Claim: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Pakistan is waiting for an opportunity to attack Israel.
Fact: Rubio did not warn Israel or Netanyahu about Pakistan at any point during the joint press conference in question.
An image showing Rubio and Netanyahu during a recent joint press conference was shared online on 18 September. It contained the following text: پاکستان زخمی بھیڑیے کی طرح تمہاری ایک غلطی کے انتظار میں بیٹھا ہے مارک روبیو کا اسرائیلی وزیراعظم کو انتباہ
[Translation: Pakistan is like a wounded wolf waiting for you to make one mistake – Mark Rubio’s warning to the Israeli Prime Minister.]
Fact or Fiction?
Since the viral image resembled a screenshot of an Urdu news report and attributed the news to a “web desk”, we reverse-searched the visual and also conducted a keyword search using the headline. However, we did not find any credible reports about the claim.
Soch Fact Check then focused on the image of Rubio and Netanyahu and traced it to a recent joint press conference shared by Reuters. It was held on 15 September in West Jerusalem following Israel’s strikes in Doha, Qatar on 9 September.
A review of the complete press conference also revealed that Rubio did not mention Pakistan at any point. Only at 31:17, Netanyahu referred to Pakistan when he recalled the 2011 US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad.
Virality
The claim was shared here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook. Archived here, here, here, here, and here.
It was shared here (archive) on X.
On Instagram, it was shared here (archive) and here (archive).
Conclusion: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not warn Israel or Netanyahu during a recent press conference about Pakistan “waiting like a wounded wolf” or against expecting any possible attack from the country.
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Background image in cover photo: Reuters
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