WAR GAMES
Tensions in the Middle East in the 1980s were no laughing matter. In 1986, an Israeli intelligence analyst created a false April Fool’s Day report stating that Nabih Berri, the leader of the Amal Movement (one of the factions in the Lebanese Civil War) had been wounded in an assassination attempt. The story spread across Israeli radio before it was found to be a hoax, and it had to be retracted to prevent an international incident. The analyst was court-martialled and Israel’s defence minister faced questions in parliament.
Nabih Berri’s hoax ‘assassination’ could have had dangerous consequences
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