FACT CHECK: Did IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari Resign?
A post shared on X claims that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari resigned.
Israeli terror Spokesman Daniel Hagari has resigned. Not because too many Palestinian civilians were being killed but because not enough were being killed to his taste. pic.twitter.com/QJolheeXpl
— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾 (@Partisangirl) March 5, 2024
Verdict: False
Hagari has not resigned. The original report did not state that Hagari had resigned.
Fact Check:
Social media users are sharing claims that Hagari has resigned from the IDF. One user wrote, “Israeli terror Spokesman Daniel Hagari has resigned. Not because too many Palestinian civilians were being killed but because not enough were being killed to his taste.”
If Hagari had resigned, credible media outlets would have covered it, yet none have. Check Your Fact did find a report from Channel 14 that stated that several officials, including the second in command, resigned from the IDF’s spokesperson’s unit. It did not claim that Hagari himself resigned.
The claim likely originated from an Al-Jazeera report, which is likely citing the Channel 14 article. Al-Jazeera later retracted the report in a March 4 tweet.
RETRACTION:
04/03/2024: An update originally cited an Israeli report as saying that senior members of the Israeli military’s Spokesperson’s Unit, including high-ranking spokesperson Daniel Hagari, had resigned.
That was incorrect and the Israeli army has since denied it as…
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 4, 2024
“RETRACTION: 04/03/2024: An update originally cited an Israeli report as saying that senior members of the Israeli military’s Spokesperson’s Unit, including high-ranking spokesperson Daniel Hagari, had resigned. That was incorrect and the Israeli army has since denied it as ‘false’. We have therefore retracted it,” the tweet reads.
The Jerusalem Post reported that most of the senior officials leaving the IDF spokesperson’s unit was not a shock. An IDF source told the outlet that “[b]ecause we know the truth, we aren’t phased by this report, truly.”
The IDF has posted Hagari speaking as recently as March 5. (RELATED: Did Pope Francis Say That Jesus Was Born During A Census Taken By King David)
“Over 450 @UNRWA employees are military operatives in terror groups in Gaza… This is no mere coincidence, this is systematic. There is no claiming: ‘we didn’t know.'”
Watch the full statement by IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari regarding UNRWA workers that were involved in… pic.twitter.com/NB5I6j0f2F
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 5, 2024
Check Your Fact reached out to the IDF for comment and will update this article if a response is provided.