Claim: TIME Magazine has named Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the “KILLER of the YEAR.”
Fact: The cover in question is fake. TIME Magazine never published such an issue; in 2023, it announced Taylor Swift as Person of the Year, Lionel Messi as Athlete of the Year, and Sam Altman as CEO of the Year. Netanyahu was not even on the list of candidates.
On 7 April 2024, Threads user @muhammadahmedbosan posted (archive) an alleged TIME Magazine cover depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sitting surrounded by skulls, with text at the top stating, “KILLER of the YEAR,” and that on the bottom reading, “Responsible for War Crimes, Crimes of Apartheid, Crime of Genocide.”
What’s going on in Gaza?
On 7 October 2023, Hamas attacked (archive) a border area of Israel, starting the ongoing war (archive) in Palestine. Over 33,200 Palestinians have been killed and more than 75,900 injured, as per an 8 April 2024 update by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
At least 1,200 Israelis have been killed and upwards of 5,400 injured. Since Israel commenced ground operations in Gaza, over 250 Israeli soldiers have been killed and more than 1,550 injured, while 133 Israeli hostages remain in captivity, according to the OCHA.
Ever since the 7 October attack, a flood of misleading, old, and out-of-context pictures, videos, and claims have surfaced in the media.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check looked up TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2023 and found that it listed three people under three titles: Taylor Swift as Person of the Year, Lionel Messi as Athlete of the Year, and Sam Altman as CEO of the Year.
“This reflects the editors’ assessment of the individuals who most shaped the headlines over the previous 12 months, for better or for worse,” the announcement said. The magazine announces the title at the end of each year.
Furthermore, the candidates for the 2023 Person of the Year title did not include Netanyahu’s name either. In fact, the Israeli prime minister has never been nominated as such since 1992.
Netanyahu was, however, listed as one of the 100 most influential people by TIME Magazine in 2019.
Interestingly, the same magazine cover went viral back in December 2023 as well; at that time, a TIME spokesperson told Reuters that “the image did not show an authentic cover”, the publication reported.
Furthermore, in the viral cover, the text “Year 2023” is situated in the bottom-right corner; however, the dates are usually printed on the top-right corner, with “time.com” written in the bottom-right corner as per the magazine cover’s typical format.
Lastly, TIME Magazine has never awarded anyone the title “Killer of the Year”. Additionally, the publication has had to write an article titled, “How To Spot a Fake TIME Cover,” given the prevalence of multiple doctored or fake covers.
Virality
The post by @muhammadahmedbosan has received more than 1,000 likes as of writing time.
Soch Fact Check found the viral image on Facebook here and here. On Instagram, it was shared here, here, and here, whereas on X (formerly Twitter), it was posted here, here, and here.
The fake cover was also published on at least two websites here and here.
The visual also made its way to LinkedIn here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The cover in question is fake. In 2023, TIME Magazine announced Taylor Swift as Person of the Year, Lionel Messi as Athlete of the Year, and Sam Altman as CEO of the Year. Netanyahu was not even on the list of candidates.
Background image in cover photo: Netanyahu
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