A video going viral on social media claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was attacked in Tel Aviv and seriously injured. This claim is false. The video does not show Netanyahu at all.
The footage is from 19 January 2013 in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It shows a man pointing a gas pistol at Bulgarian politician Ahmed Dogan during a televised party conference. Dogan was not hurt, and security guards quickly wrestled the attacker to the ground.
The fake claim spread just after Israel Election Final Results: Netanyahu Bloc Wins 53 Seats but Falls Short of Majority, when social media posts linked the old video to the election result.
What the viral video claims
Posts on X and Facebook claimed that Netanyahu was attacked in Tel Aviv after the election vote count. Some posts said he was seriously injured and that a plane was being sent to take him to the United States. One post shared on 31 October claimed he was attacked at a press conference, that a bullet missed him, and that bodyguards caught the attacker. No credible news report supports any of these claims.
What the video actually shows
The video shows Ahmed Dogan, the leader of Bulgaria’s Movement for Rights and Freedoms party, speaking at a podium in Sofia on 19 January 2013. A man from the audience, Oktay Enimehmedov, walked up to him and pointed a gas pistol at his head. He tried to fire, but the gun misfired. Dogan was unharmed, and guards took the attacker down within seconds. The BBC reported the incident the same week in January 2013.
How fact-checkers proved it is old footage
Fact-checkers at NewsMeter, Soch Fact Check and FactWatch all checked the viral video and reached the same result: it is false. They matched single frames from the video to the original 2013 footage, which was posted on YouTube on 19 January 2013 with the title “Gun attack during televised conference in Bulgaria”. A clear clue is the lettering on the podium. It shows “DPS”, the Bulgarian short form of Dogan’s party name. No frame shows Netanyahu, Tel Aviv, or any event from 2026.
Why the fake video spread after the election
Israel held its parliamentary election on 27 October, and the final results came out on 30 October. Because no bloc won a majority, the country now faces weeks of talks to form a government. Old videos often go viral again at moments like this, when people are searching for dramatic news. One account sharing the video uses a military-style name, but it is not an official IDF account. Readers should check the date and source of a video before sharing it.
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