Israeli news channel mistakenly airs ‘Star Wars’ scene as part of Ukraine war coverage
Sharp viewers noticed a clip taken from the sci-fi movie which was repeatedly shown several times during Channel 13 News broadcasts on the Russian invasion
Misinformation on the war in Ukraine found its way into Israeli primetime when Channel 13 News mistakenly ran a short clip from a “Star Wars” movie in its coverage of the Russian invasion on Tuesday.
The video was aired several times during reports and even while a top military analyst provided commentary of recent events.
Sharp Israeli viewers noticed the mistake and uploaded it to social media, in what provided comic relief from intense war broadcasts.
But it also served to shatter the fragile faith that many have in mainstream media.
It is not clear how the clip made its way into the news. One possibility is that the “Star Wars” scene was deliberately cut and placed within real footage from the actual frontlines spiraling on social media. Another possibility is that the channel took the visuals from an international news service and that the movie footage was inserted at some point along the transfer of files. It is likely that the fake video first appeared in a Telegram channel that is providing updates on the war, according to Walla! News.
Since nobody at the network noticed the error early enough, it ran on-air for many hours, including during the evening news edition and other primetime slots. The Israeli channel has yet to address the incident.
The fake video seems to have emerged online in 2014. It is a mashup of two popular genres created by sci-fi fans: visuals from ‘Star Wars’ movies combined with car dashboard view from highways in Russia.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
