JERUSALEM (AP) \u2014 The photos seemed destined for posterity in Israel\u2019s state archives.<\/p>\n
In the snapshots, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is joined by his wife, Sara, as well as U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee and a group of Israeli soldiers, as they light Hannukah candles at Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews pray. The leaders exchange triumphant looks.<\/p>\n
But something is off. <\/p>\n
Sara Netanyahu\u2019s skin is poreless, her eyes overly defined and her hair perfectly coiffed \u2014 a look officials acknowledge is the result of heavy retouching.<\/p>\n
Critics say the issue isn\u2019t the use of photo-editing software, which is common on the social media accounts of celebrities and public figures. They say it\u2019s the circulation of the images in official government announcements, which distorts reality, violates ethical codes and risks compromising official archiving and record-keeping efforts. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll the pictures to this day in the archives in Israel are authentic pictures of reality as it was captured by the lenses of photographers\u2019 cameras since the establishment of the state,\u201d said Shabi Gatenio, the veteran political journalist who broke the story in The Seventh Eye, an Israeli site that covers local media. \u201cThese images, if entered into the database, will forever infect it with a virtual reality that never existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the manipulation of images was revealed, the government has taken the unprecedented step of crediting Sara Netanyahu in its releases that include manipulated images. And it\u2019s not clear if the official archive will include images of her taken during the second half of last year, when Gatenio said the editing appears to have begun.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Netanyahu\u2019s personal spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Nitzan Chen, director of the Government Press Office, told The Associated Press that images of the prime minister are never manipulated and that his office would not upload any retouched photos to the official archive. <\/p>\n
Personal Photoshop habit enters political realm<\/p>\n
Sara Netanyahu, 67, has long used photo-editing software on her images. Her social media account is filled with images in which her face appears heavily retouched.<\/p>\n
But the topic raised eyebrows since her Photoshop habit entered the public record.<\/p>\n
Gatenio said he first noticed this last July, when the couple visited President Donald Trump<\/a> in Washington, D.C., and again in September, as Sara Netanyahu joined her husband on the tarmac ahead of a trip to New York for the U.N. General Assembly. <\/p>\n At the time, the prime minister\u2019s office released a video of the send-off along with a photo, credited to Avi Ohayon, an official government photographer.<\/p>\n Comparing the photo to the raw video, Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at the University of California, Berkeley, said the image had been post-processed, bearing local manipulations to smooth her skin and remove wrinkles. <\/p>\n Since then, photos showing Mrs. Netanyahu meeting with Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, in Washington also appear to have been retouched, Farid said. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been some Photoshop editing to \u2014 let\u2019s call it \u2014 \u2018beautify,\u2019 lighten, smooth the face,\u201d Farid said.<\/p>\n \u201cIs it nefarious? No. Is it a problem? Yes. This is about something bigger than, \u2018she Photoshopped her face to make herself look younger.\u2019 This is about trust. Why should I trust any official photo coming out of that administration?\u201d<\/p>\n Chen, the head of the Government Press Office, said office lawyers are trying to determine how to handle and properly identify photos \u201cprocessed by people other than GPO photographers.\u201d <\/p>\n He said the Justice Ministry is also examining the \u201ccriteria, limitations and possibilities\u201d of the edited images, though he stressed there is nothing illegal about touching up photos. The issue, he said, is being transparent when such changes are made.<\/p>\n For now, the Prime Minister\u2019s Office has decided to add Sara Netanyahu\u2019s name to press releases that include retouched images. Since November, press releases showing photos of her smiling next to Trump and the family of the last hostage in Gaza<\/a> in Washington, visiting a Miami synagogue and attending a funeral for an Israeli mayor have included this label.<\/p>\n At least one outlet, the Times of Israel, has said it will no longer carry official state photos that appear to have been manipulated. The Associated Press<\/a> does not publish images that appear to have been retouched or digitally manipulated. <\/p>\n A broader phenomenon<\/p>\n Chen said the prime minister is never edited: \u201cNo Photoshop, no corrections, no color. Nothing.\u201d <\/p>\n While his face may not be retouched, the prime minister\u2019s official Instagram account tells another story.<\/p>\n The page has posted a bevy of content that appears to be AI-edited or generated, including a picture of the couple with Trump and first lady Melania Trump celebrating the new year in Washington. <\/p>\n The photo raised suspicions in Israel because it shows Sara Netanyahu wearing a black dress absent from other photos of the event, where she wore a dark red frock. Appearing in the sky above the couples are brightly colored fireworks and American and Israeli flags that Farid said were \u201calmost certainly\u201d generated by AI.<\/p>\n It is now marked with a tag on Instagram indicating that it may have been altered or generated using AI. It is not clear when the tag was added nor by whom. <\/p>\n