"Look at an interesting post that an Iranian channel published tonight - a video of Defense Minister Gallant saying that the United States will not succeed in defeating the Houthis," said Channel 14 presenter Sara Beck (April 14) on the Night News. The on-screen caption declared: "Iranian channel publishes video of Gallant."

Immediately after this, a segment was broadcast that was clearly generated by an artificial intelligence engine and is not authentic. After the video played for about 20 seconds, the broadcast returned to Beck, who said: "Well, just a second, right on the first sentence I said to stop this video so we apologize, this is fake. This is actually, these are not the things Gallant said but an AI trying to put words in his mouth."

In the final seconds, the caption "Iranian channel publishes video of Gallant" changed to "Fake Iranian channel video of Gallant," and then disappeared entirely.

In fact, Channel 14 did not find the video on an "Iranian channel" or a "fake Iranian channel."

The video, as could be seen from the signatures appearing on it, was taken from a WhatsApp group called The Operations Center, which itself took it from a Telegram group called Abu Ali Express. It's also possible that the WhatsApp group took the video from the Telegram group - in any case, the channel took a video they "found on the internet" and broadcast it without any attempt to verify its authenticity.

Beck, unlike many presenters on the channel, is a former journalist. Nevertheless, it seems she has acquiesced to the channel's prevailing standards of lack of professionalism and journalistic ethics. In any news room, the minimum standard for broadcasting a video taken from a second or third-hand source is verification of its authenticity.

In fact, any person with basic journalistic skills (or in this case, simple common sense and logic) would have been suspicious of a video showing the (former, by the way) Defense Minister being interviewed by an Iranian channel, or would have asked themselves how this shocking scoop was not reported anywhere else and only reached Channel 14's Night News.

The enthusiasm to air the video is clear: Channel 14 is a political tool designed to promote Netanyahu and his government, operating according to their talking points and their "hit lists." Gallant is marked as Netanyahu's rival, so any piece of information that can present him in an unflattering light is something the channel pounces on like finding great treasure. Apparently, even at the cost of disgrace when the lie is so blatantly obvious.

The channel issued a statement saying "from an initial investigation, it appears the video was received during the broadcast and was aired without prior verification, in complete violation of procedures. Despite the video being removed within seconds, the channel's management views this seriously, is conducting an investigation and will draw conclusions."

In reality, this is not the first time Beck has broadcast fake news. In the past she reported that the CIA was behind the demonstrations opposing Netanyahu government policy. Of course, the low standards, lack of professionalism, and prevalence of fake news is not limited only to Sarah Beck and Night News, but characterizes the entire propaganda channel.

Even the practice of broadcasting fake AI videos is not limited to the Night News program. In the past, singer and creator Renana Raz threatened to sue the The Patriots program for broadcasting a fake AI video of her. The Israel Defense Forces also accused Channel 14 of "deliberate incitement and humiliation of the IDF and its commanders during wartime" following the broadcast of a fake AI video of Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, who was marked as Netanyahu's "enemy." "Unfortunately," wrote the IDF spokesperson, "this is not the first time."

The channel's poor journalistic quality has often been expressed in censorship violations, repeatedly and persistently, including violations that were determined to have caused actual harm to state security.

The poor journalistic level of Channel 14, owned by Yitzchak Mirilashvili, son of oligarch Michael Mirilashvili, was recently described in detail in a lawsuit filed by a former student at the "School of Communications" established by the channel. According to her claim, instead of professional training, students received political propaganda, distorted data, and stories by channel personnel about themself.

In fact, even the channel has distanced itself from the programs it airs, as part of a class action lawsuit against the channel claiming it violates hidden advertising prohibition rules. In response to the lawsuit's request, the channel claimed that the legal programs broadcast on the channel are just "entertainment programs," that the morning program deals with issues of "no great importance," and that the technology news program is not a news program.