Old videos, misleading maps and political rhetoric turned a natural disaster into a national scapegoating campaign. ‘Many people saw the lie,’ one expert says. ‘Fewer saw the correction’
Nir Hasson. May 3, 2025
As massive wildfires raged through the hills surrounding Jerusalem this week, Popular right-wing X account Torat Lehima (“Combat Doctrine”) shared a video purporting to show a man walking and setting fire to his surroundings. Right-wing activist Miri Barbi quickly reposted the footage to her tens of thousands of followers – and even promoted it as paid content.
Three minutes later, Channel 13 aired the same video with a voiceover suggesting it depicted an arson suspect. However, the footage had, in fact, been filmed in Italy in 2021 and had already been flagged by the misinformation watchdog group “Fake Reporter” as an old hoax.
“The number of people who saw the video on X was enormous. The number who saw the correction? Probably less than half,” says Dr. Adam Klin Oron, an anthropologist and expert on conspiracy theories, who has studied groups such as flat-earthers in Israe
As with previous waves of wildfires in Israel – most notably the 2010 Carmel disaster – right-wing politicians, journalists, and social media users quickly sought to blame Palestinian arsonists,often without evidence. This time, the disinformation campaign was unusually intense and coordinated. Among those pushing the narrative were cabinet ministers, Knesset members, right-wing journalists, and activists. Some even accused members of the Jewish National Fund and left-wing Israelis.
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Numerous “proofs” circulated online, including a video from Canada Park that supposedly showed burning olive trees, while the surrounding area was untouched by fire. “Video proves: At least some fires – result of deliberate arson,” A headline on Channel 14 claimed. Veteran fire officials scoffed at the suggestion.
A far more mundane explanation for the fire’s spread was offered: a phenomenon known as “spotting,” in which wind carries embers or burning pinecones over long distances, igniting new fires. According to firefighters, in the current blaze, “spot fires” started as far as 800–900 meters from the main fireline. Most trees go unharmed, but some of them with dry, hollow trunks catch fire.
“The moment I saw it, I knew people would have a field day,” said a senior fire officer. “What sense does it make for someone to walk into the middle of a massive wildfire, surrounded by thousands of security personnel, just to set a few trees on fire? These were simply trees with a bit more resin, slightly drier trunks. It was completely random,” the officer emphasized.
Other promoters of the arson theory shared a map that supposedly “proved” the fires were all within Israeli territory and not in the West Bank, implying Palestinian responsibility. The map was widely circulated, including by prominent right-wing figures such as Shimon Riklin and Ayelet Lash
“As of now, it’s only happening to us. On October 7, we suffered a disaster partly because of nonsense about the climate crisis. We must stop spouting this nonsense. Eyes on the enemy, please,” Riklin wrote.
The map, whose data sources remain unclear, ignored fires that broke out in the Palestinian Authority that same day (including near Jericho and Tulkarm), as well as fires that occurred near Arab towns within Israel.
The map ignored basic geographic facts: the West Bank’s topography includes far more forested and fire-prone areas than the surrounding plains, and many fires also broke out near Arab towns within Israel proper.
Additional “evidence” included posters that were allegedly distributed by terrorist organizations to encourage arsonists. However, it remains unclear who created them or what impact they actually had on the ground. None of that mattered, hundreds of right-wing users on X rushed to share the images as supposed proof of intent behind the fires.
“This kind of manipulation is aimed at confirming a narrative,” says Klin Oron. “There’s a conspiracy machine at work, and it doesn’t matter whether the data supports it.”
Despite having no credible evidence, senior Israeli officials helped spread the conspiracy. Likud MK Tally Gotliv described the fires as a “mega-terror attack.” MK Aryeh Deri called on the IDF to “eliminate from the air any terrorist identified as an arsonist.” Far-right commentator Yinon Magal posted a fabricated image of a Palestinian youth setting a fire, accompanied by the sarcastic caption “climate crisis.”
Right-wing group Ad Kan declared, “This is not a wave of wildfires—it’s a wave of Islamist nationalist arson.” Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu claimed the fires were deliberate and hinted at a conspiracy to cover up the phenomenon. He also linked the alleged arson to “violent education and culture” among Palestinians.
Hundreds of right-wing online activists shared similar claims, with many using the allegations as an opportunity to attack Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar. “Government sources are telling us: ‘Another failure by Ronen Bar, who focuses on arresting Jews instead of thwarting nationalist arson,'” said Channel 14 journalist Moti Kastel. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir repeatedly referred to the arsonists as “arch-terrorists who tried to murder thousands of civilians.”
Reports about increased patrols and Shin Bet’s involvement in investigating the “arsons” were widely circulated in mainstream media. Meanwhile, Fake Reporter collected calls on X and in WhatsApp groups advocating for the execution of suspected arsonists. The Jewish National Fund’s spokesperson shared an image of a firefighter holding an Israeli flag with the caption: “On our Independence Day – where they burned, we will continue to plant and rebuild!”
Right-wing group Ad Kan declared, “This is not a wave of wildfires—it’s a wave of Islamist nationalist arson.” Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu claimed the fires were deliberate and hinted at a conspiracy to cover up the phenomenon. He also linked the alleged arson to “violent education and culture” among Palestinians.
Hundreds of right-wing online activists shared similar claims, with many using the allegations as an opportunity to attack Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar. “Government sources are telling us: ‘Another failure by Ronen Bar, who focuses on arresting Jews instead of thwarting nationalist arson,'” said Channel 14 journalist Moti Kastel. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir repeatedly referred to the arsonists as “arch-terrorists who tried to murder thousands of civilians.”
Towering above the rest was the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son, Yair, who said he hoped that “the arsons came solely from the Arabs, without collaboration from our own people.” He justified this by claiming that “the Kaplanist Left has been in a frenzy in recent weeks, trying to cancel Independence Day celebrations and the torch-lighting ceremony.”
Netanyahu Jr. ignored the fact that the torch-lighting ceremony was canceled due to high winds, not because of the fires. But according to Dr. Klin Oron, his statement marked a shift in the discourse from rumor to full-blown conspiracy. “Unlike rumors, a conspiracy posits a system operating behind the scenes – a powerful force arranging the world,” he said.
“Most of what was published was halfway there. Netanyahu Jr. took it all the way. In both cases, the goal is to draw clear boundaries: who is ‘us’ and who is not. It doesn’t matter whether it’s true or false—what matters is that it marks Palestinians as the enemy.”
The elder Netanyahu added fuel to the fire during his speech at the International Bible Contest on Thursday: “We are currently holding 18 suspects for arson. One of them was caught in the act.” Police were reportedly surprised by the statement, as only three suspects had been arrested. One of them, a resident of Isawiyah in East Jerusalem, was not suspected of arson at all, but of incitement on social media.
The second suspect, the one who was said to be “caught in the act,” is Riad Abu Tir, a 63-year-old resident of Umm Tuba. According to police, he was arrested after attempting to ignite a fire in a field near the Har Homa neighborhood in Jerusalem. In a press release, police listed the contents of Abu Tir’s pockets: a lighter, cotton balls, and tissues, describing them as “an igniter and combustible materials.”
Channel 12 later aired a video purportedly showing Abu Tir setting a fire, and a magistrate court judge, Sarit Zochowitzky-Uri, extended his detention until Sunday. Abu Tir claimed he also had a pipe and tobacco on him and was simply walking in the area to smoke. The Channel 12 video was edited from two different camera angles and included a nine-minute gap between footage showing Abu Tir walking in the field and smoke rising from the area. (No fire broke out; the flames were extinguished immediately.)
Haaretz examined the site and found it to be an open field near the Mar Elias Monastery, significantly closer to the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa than to the Jewish neighborhood of Har Homa. The identity of the third suspect mentioned by police remains unknown.
Conspiracy theories about the arson serve politicians well, says Klin Oron. “You spread the blame and mark out the ‘traitors,’ and it also works in reverse,” he explains. “You don’t have to explain why there’s no Super Tanker or why there aren’t enough firefighters. You don’t have to live up to past promises, because the conspiracy theory always offers the perfect excuse. It diverts the conversation and deflects responsibility.”
Klin Oron says this time marks an escalation, both because the prime minister himself spread blatant falsehoods and because of the brazen climate denialism coming from conspiracy theorists and their supporters. He attributes the broader trend to the political and cultural atmosphere following U.S. President Donald Trump’s election victory. “There’s a sense that some internal brake has been released, and now people feel free to openly say: ‘It’s okay to question everything,'” he said.
One of the core tools used by conspiracy theorists is a claim shared by flat-Earth believers: that people should trust their gut feelings rather than experts or institutions. “It’s tied to the age of individualism,” says Klin Oron. “The expert is you. If it feels right to you, it’s right. It’s a mix of New Age spirituality and conspiracy thinking: ‘What my heart feels is true.'”
According to him, “There’s a cartoon that flat-earthers really love. It shows a professor with a chalkboard full of equations and a trillion instruments, this is how you prove the Earth is round. And how do you prove it’s flat? You see someone just looking at the horizon. The message is: be authentic, believe in yourself.” This faith in one’s own truth, he explains, undermines the authority of institutions to define what is real.
“And once you’ve decided that no institution can tell you what’s true or false, it’s a very short leap to claiming that those institutions are working for someone else, like the ‘deep state.'”
Since Wednesday, dozens of tweets and statements by right-wing figures have mocked the link between the climate crisis and the fires, often repeating the refrain: “Fires don’t just start by themselves.” Right-wing cartoonist Or Reichert published an illustration of a masked arsonist holding two jerrycans, with the caption: “The climate crisis.”
“Fires don’t just start on their own, these things are being investigated,” Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silmanhinted in an interview from the fire command center. She then quickly clarified that arsonists must be punished severely.
Experts explain that just like the flat-Earth claim, which is based on the fact that the horizon looks flat, the assertion that “fires don’t just start on their own” ignores the reality that fire is all around us, even if we don’t always notice it.
Around 18 million cigarettes are smoked in Israel every day. According to conservative estimates, at least 8,000 cigarettes are discarded outside of trash bins or ashtrays every minute. Dozens of fires break out in Israel each day, the overwhelming majority caused by negligence: hikers lighting campfires, farmers burning crop waste, welding accidents, vehicle malfunctions, and more. A study published two years ago found that the single largest cause of wildfires in open areas in Israel is IDF training exercises.
Nine years ago, Israel experienced a similar, if not more severe, wave of wildfires.
Then, too, politicians rushed to blame the Palestinians, the media cooperated, and a suspect was arrested: Jawad Ali Katosh from the West Bank village of Battir, who was captured on distant cameras lighting a fire.
The media and politicians celebrated the capture of the “terrorist.” Ali Katosh spent five days in detention and was ultimately released without being charged.
The fire he lit was a small campfire that he himself extinguished, located on land he owned, just a few hundred meters from his home and kilometers from any Jewish settlement. But because a criminal file was opened against him, his permit to enter Israel was revoked, he lost his job, and his family fell into severe economic hardship.
“By the time the facts come to light, no one cares anymore. Everyone’s attention has already moved on,” Klin Oron concludes.