13-year-old satirical story about Netanyahu's psychiatrist resurfaces online | Fact check

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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The claim: Benjamin Netanyahu's psychiatrist died by suicide

A Nov. 6 article (direct link, archive link) includes a picture of Benjamin Netanyahu and claims one of his doctors killed himself in 2010 because of the despair his patient had caused.

"Israeli Prime Minister’s psychiatrist commits suicide," reads the article's headline.

The article garnered more than 700 Facebook shares in nine days, according to the social media analytics tool CrowdTangle. Similar versions of the claim were shared on Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.

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Our rating: False

The claim originated as satire in 2010. There aren't any credible reports of such a death occurring.

Story written as satire more than a decade ago

The article claims a psychiatrist named Dr. Moshe Yatom was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2010. In a supposed suicide note, Yatom blamed his patient, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his "waterfall of lies" as the reason for his despair.

There aren't any credible reports of Netanyahu being treated by someone named Yatom, or of any of his doctors killing themselves.

A similar version of the story was published on June 8, 2010, in a blog called "Legalienate" that is labeled "News, Commentary and Satire."

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Eight days later, the same article was published on a website called "Axis of Logic" and labeled "Political Satire."

The article is an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where stories written as satire and presented that way originally are captured and reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, as was the case here.

USA TODAY reached out to the website that shared the claim for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Lead Stories and the Associated Press also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Claim about Netanyahu's psychiatrist is stolen satire | Fact check