Hananya Naftali is a niche internet celebrity with 292,000 subscribers on YouTube and 362,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter).
Born in Israel in 1995, his celebrity status started in 2014 while he served in the IDF as part of Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge” and then began publicizing his pro-Israel point of view of what was happening on the ground.
In 2017, Naftali managed to interview Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu, and that further bolstered his media status.
“It was the first time I had met him, and months later they asked me to join his team. When you’re 22 and the prime minister offers you a job, you don’t say no. I guess they liked me. So, that’s how I got into this political world.
Hananya Naftali in an interview with the Jewish News Syndicate
However, Hananya is not completely transparent about his Israeli government affiliation. His Twitter bio describes him as an Israeli media personality interested in peace in the Middle East, with no mention of his government employment.
His YouTube bio also has no mention of his Israeli government affiliation. This lack of transparency led to confusion during the Baptist Hospital attack controversy in Gaza in October 2023 when Hananya’s tweets were sometimes interpreted as official Israeli government statements and other times were annotated by Community Notes which indicated he was just an influencer with no government connection.
Another complaint against Hananya is that he frequently shares fake or contradictory information. After the news broke about the October 17, 2023 hospital explosion in Gaza, Hananya posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Israel had conducted an airstrike on the hospital (screenshot below).
However, within minutes, he deleted the post claiming Israel’s responsibility. He eventually published a retraction post explaining the deletion.
I’m inclined to believe Hananya’s explanation, but the very fact that he has privileged access to certain information from the Israeli prime minister’s office means that his public statements are often (understandably) viewed as official Israeli government statements. That means Hananya’s reckless initial post claiming Israel’s responsibility for the hospital’s destruction is now being interpreted by many as evidence that Israel DID attack the hospital and is now trying to cover it up.
Hananya exacerbated this accusation by posting an old video from 2022 claiming that it was unverified footage of the Palestinian rocket that misfired and hit the hospital.
To be clear, I don’t think Hananya is a bad person, but I do think he is reckless, biased, and imbued with a soldier’s dedication to protect a pro-Israel narrative online even in the complete absence of evidence. Those attributes are now costing the government of Israel significant credibility and risk exacerbating tensions with Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
References
[1] The rise of Hananya Naftali, social media star and pro-Israel influencer. Jewish News Syndicate. December 8, 2022.
[2] Hnaftali.com (Hananya’s personal website).