A post shared on Facebook claims to show a poll from Israeli news outlet Channel 12, suggesting that most Israelis support soldiers sexually assaulting “handcuffed terrorists.”

Verdict: False

The image is digitally edited. The original poll was asking a question regarding “supporters of terrorism” in government, while the poll itself predates the Gaza-Israel conflict.

Fact Check:

The U.S. is planning to sell approximately $20 billion in weapons to Israel, including F-15s and air-to-air missiles, over the pans of several years, according to The Washington Post. The deal comes as Israel awaits a planned attack from Iran over the targeted assassination of Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh, Reuters reported.

The Facebook post claims to show a poll from Channel 12, an Israeli news outlet, asking respondents if the claim that “a soldier is allowed to rape a terrorist [Palestinian detainee]” shares their values. The poll results show 47% of respondents agreed, while 43% of respondents disagreed. “ISRAELIS ARE PRO-RAPE,” the post’s caption claims.

The image is digitally altered. The original poll was conducted in 2022, one year before the Oct. 7 attacks from Hamas in southern Israel. The question being asked, according to a Reuters fact-check, asked whether respondents “agree with the claim that the government relies on supporters of terrorism.”

In October 2023, five days before the attacks occurred, the outlet issued an apology regarding the wording of the poll, according to an archive from Haaretz. The outlet admitted the question “could have been better phrased,” but stopped short of issuing a retraction. (RELATED: FACT CHECK: No, Photo Does Not Show Building Where Hamas Chief Was Assassinated)

The altered post’s content comes days after allegations of sexual abuse towards Palestinian detainees by Israeli soldiers surfaced, with the U.S. Department of State calling on officials in Israel to investigate the claims, according to CNN. A video of a gang rape of a Palestinian prisoner by Israeli detention facility guards allegedly surfaced online, with ten soldiers being arrested in connection with the assault, Al-Jazeera reported.

Subsequently, in February 2024, a U.N. panel said allegations of assault against Palestinian women and girls while in Israeli detention were “credible,” The Guardian reported.