Benjamin Netanyahu Imitates Debunked Video of Biden Falling Asleep During Meeting With Israeli PM

Photo by ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to mock President Joe Biden during a Facebook Live on Sunday, invoking a debunked video that was manipulated to look like Biden fell asleep during a meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

“The videos on social media, however, have been misleadingly cropped: seconds later, longer footage shows that Biden responds to Bennett,” a fact-check by Reuters noted.

The video, which was widely circulated on social media, prompted a flag from Twitter that it contained “manipulated media.”

However, Netanyahu apparently was not alerted that the video was misleading.

In the 26-minute Facebook live, an off-camera voice says: “You know, Bennett met with Biden.”

Netanyahu replied: “I heard. I heard that Biden was very attentive at this meeting. He dropped his head in agreement,” while imitating the head drop.

Former President Donald Trump nicknamed Biden “Sleepy Joe,”  for past accusations of nodding off (other videos have been debunked as well) and other gaffes.

The comment prompted accusations that Netanyahu was mocking Biden, but Netanyahu denied those claims saying he never said anything about Biden and blamed media for showing “a manipulative picture.”

His political party, the Likud Party, claimed in a statement that the video was actually mocking Bennett for boring Biden.

“Former Prime Minister Netanyahu knows and cherishes President Biden as a friend of Israel for 40 years. His criticism was directed only at Naftali Bennett who spoke at length about nothing during his visit to the White House,” the statement read.