Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Netanyahu opens TikTok account, promotes COVID-19 vaccine

The Israeli prime minister uses the social-media platform to urge the public to follow his lead as the first in the country to receive the shot.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at the Health Ministry in Jerusalem on Dec. 9, 2020. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at the Health Ministry in Jerusalem on Dec. 9, 2020. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

Moments after being the first Israeli to be inoculated against COVID-19 on Saturday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined TikTok by posting his first video outside the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv where he received the vaccine.

“While I was getting vaccinated, you opened a TikTok account for me?” he asked his aides. He then urged the public not to let that platform be a replacement for reading books.

“Go get vaccinated,” the prime minister added, reiterating what he had said earlier, right after receiving the shot.

Jokes have been circulating on the Internet about possible side effects from the vaccination, such as the growing of a tail. Netanyahu referred to the memes by quipping that he hadn’t grown a tail since receiving the injection on live TV.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.

“When journalists make these requests, they’re really made on behalf of the public, not to bury the issue and respond 11 months later,” Randy Mastro, a former deputy New York City mayor, told JNS.
“Under any Republican administration, Israelis are never going to be sanctioned for simply advocating against aid to Hamas or advocating against illegal Palestinian construction,” Eugene Kontorovich, a law professor, told JNS.
The USAID Inspector General’s office is “also working to prevent Hamas-linked staff from jumping to other aid organizations operating in Gaza,” a senior Trump admin official told JNS.
“Regardless of how it is ultimately classified, incidents like this send shockwaves through the Jewish community,” Rabbi Noah Farkas of Jewish Federation Los Angeles told JNS.
Prosecutors said the man caused damage to both facilities before sending texts boasting about the vandalism.
Despite Israeli objections to previously reported terms, the official said Washington is confident that all U.S. allies “will get on board” with the emerging agreement.