Videos authentically show Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wearing a Palestinian flag at a United Nations event with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
During the United Nations annual gathering in New York in September 2026, a widely shared video on social media falsely purported to capture Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wearing a Palestinian flag while walking near Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
An X user who posted the footage wrote:
BREAKING:📷
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni:
“I am a woman and also a mother.
I cannot stand with someone who kills innocent children.”
The brave woman continued to walk around wearing a Palestinian flag around her neck in front of Netanyahu.
Multiple accounts across social media platforms amplified identical versions of the clip.
Investigations into the footage revealed it to be entirely fabricated.
The recording originated from a TikTok account responsible for generating several synthetic clips depicting the same hypothetical scenario, all displaying noticeable markers of artificial intelligence generation.
Although the creator labeled certain uploads as AI-generated, those tags were stripped from copies that went viral across other networks. Analysis of the video exposed distinct digital anomalies, including an incorrectly rendered Palestinian flag appearing around the eight-second mark.
Furthermore, schedules show no indication that Netanyahu and Meloni attended the same U.N. function in 2026. Editorial records from Getty Images document that their most recent in-person meeting took place in Rome in March 2023, and Meloni skipped the New York assembly entirely.
Meloni Targeted by Deepfakes
The exact motivations behind the creation of these fabricated depictions of Meloni and her diplomatic stance toward Netanyahu remain unverified.
Tensions in political discourse have been notable; in August 2025, Meloni publicly characterized the Israeli military’s actions following the Hamas attacks as “beyond the principle of proportionality.” By April 2026, her administration confirmed that Italy would allow its defense pact with Israel to lapse, citing current geopolitical circumstances.
In May 2026, Meloni addressed the public via social media after discovering she was the target of widely circulated AI-generated imagery, which included a manipulated photograph depicting her in undergarments.
Addressing the incident, the Italian prime minister stated, “Deepfakes are a dangerous tool, because they can deceive, manipulate, and strike anyone. I can defend myself. Many others cannot.”
The term “deepfake” encompasses various forms of synthetic media—ranging from manipulated authentic recordings to entirely computer-generated assets—frequently deployed, according to the Alan Turing Institute, with the intent to mislead or amuse audiences.
Sources
BARRY, COLLEEN. ‘Israeli Attacks on Gaza Are “beyond the Principle of Proportionality,” Italy’s Meloni Says’. AP News, 27 Aug. 2025.
FRANKEL, JULIA, and PHIL HOLM. ‘These Numbers Show How 2 Years of War Have Devastated Palestinian Lives in Gaza’. AP News, 7 Oct. 2025.
Ghiglione, Davide, and Laura Gozzi. ‘Italy Will Not Renew Defence Agreement with Israel, Meloni Says’. BBC News, 14 Apr. 2026.
Smith, Whitney. ‘Flag of Palestine Liberation Organization’. Britannica.
Swatton, Phil, and Margaux Leblanc. What Are Deepfakes and How Can We Detect Them? 7 June 2024.