Several Turkish media outlets falsely reported that an Indian-origin Israeli named ‘Ami Nakesh’ was behind the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The 62-year-old political wing chief was in Tehran, attending the swearing-in of the President Masoud Pezeshkian, when an airstrike killed him. Iran is blaming Israel for the attack and has vowed revenge.
Amid tensions between Israel and Iran, Turkish media outlets Akdeniz Gerçek Gazetesi, Guneydogu Ekspress and Haber Global reported that ‘Amit Nakesh’ killed Haniyeh in his guesthouse in northern Tehran. News website Usak Olay also wrote a profile on Amit Nakesh, going on to speculate that he could be an Israeli of Indian-origin – because his first name was Amit.
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Herkes Duysun claimed Nakesh was a colonel.
However, these Turkish media outlets soon realized that they fell for an Israeli pun. Times of Israel and Jerusalem Post reported that ‘Amit Nakesh’ sounded similar to the Hebrew word hamitnakesh which also means an assassin. Israeli social media commentator Dr. Eli David pointed out at the gaffe.
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“Yesterday I posted a joke that the name of Mossad agent who killed Haniyeh is “Amit Nakesh”, which in Hebrew literally means “assassin”. Today the Turkish press ran with it, and some even referred to him as Colonel Amit Nakesh 🤣,” David said on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
Yesterday I posted a joke that the name of Mossad agent who killed Haniyeh is “Amit Nakesh”, which in Hebrew literally means “assassin”.Today the Turkish press ran with it, and some even referred to him as Colonel Amit Nakesh 🤣👇 pic.twitter.com/vFlZ5gwx6S
— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) August 1, 2024
A parody account of ‘Amit Nakesh’ surfaced on social media.
While Iran has blamed Israel for the strike that killed the Hamas leader, Tel Aviv is still mum about the allegation.