Turkish Media Outlets Fall For Israeli Joke, Claim Haniyah’s Assassin Was ‘Amit Nakesh’

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Several Turkish media outlets fell for a joke on Israeli media and started claiming that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s assassin was an Israeli agent.

While it is not yet clear how and when Haniyeh was assassinated, Haber Global reported that Mossad agent “Amit Nakesh” assassinated Haniyeh.

The report was later erased, after the channel understood that the name was a play on the Hebrew word “hamitnakesh,” which means “the assassin.” Israelis often drop initial “h” sounds; thus, the word “hamitnakesh” is most often pronounced “amitnakesh.” As “Amit” is a popular Israeli name, “amitnakesh” could be split into “Amit Nakesh.”

The Akdeniz Gerçek newspaper went as far as writing a profile for Amit Nakesh, claiming him to be a veteran Mossad agent who formerly served in other Israeli security bodies.

A smaller media outlet, Usak Olay, which also reported on the “identity” of the assassin, wrote that even though Amit Nakesh is a veteran of the Israeli security bodies, it may be that he is an Israeli of Indian origin.

The report added that “security experts are closely examining Amit Nakesh’s role and involvement in the murder of Ismail Haniyeh.”

In May, following the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, jokes circulated on social media claiming that the crash was intentionally caused by an Israeli agent named Eli Copter.

Israelis usually use the word “masok” for helicopters, but they pronounce the word “helicopter” as “elicopter” due to commonly dropping the initial “h” sound, and thus jokes emerged “naming” the individual who supposedly caused the crash as “Eli Copter.”

Some, however believed Eli Copter to be the name of a Mossad agent, and blamed Israel for the crash.

Investigations have shown that the crash was not intentional or part of a larger plot.