A humorous post published by comedian and social media personality Ivgeni Zarubinski following the Israeli national soccer team’s defeat to Ireland turned into an unexpected online uproar after users in Ireland and elsewhere mistakenly believed that Zarubinsky held an official position in the State of Israel.
After Israel lost 3-0 to Ireland in a match played in Debrecen, Zarubinsky wrote in Hebrew: “Alright, it’s time to activate the pagers we planted in Ireland."
However, the post was also seen by users who do not speak Hebrew through X’s translation feature, and some interpreted it as a threat issued by an official Israeli figure.
The confusion was apparently also fueled by the humorous description on Zarubinsky’s profile, which identifies him with the HKN news group - Haifa and Krayot News.
In his English-language bio, he describes himself, among other things, as the head of the “HKN Division" at the “Israeli Ministry of Digital Defense," and says he works in “strategic communications, memes and regional confusion."
One user claimed in response that the head of a division in the Israeli Defense Ministry was calling for pagers to be activated in Ireland, similar to the events in Lebanon in 2024.
Another user wrote in English: “Imagine an Irish government employee tweeted last night that he wanted to injure and kill Israelis because of the result of a football match."
Other responses portrayed Zarubinsky as a senior Israeli official, with some even claiming that he was a senior Foreign Ministry official and demanding answers from Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
Zarubinsky, for his part, continued the joke. Following the numerous reactions and shares, he published another post: “Despite the global protest and thousands of shares (including by journalists and scientists), which include incitement against Israel, antisemitism and more - I once again call for the use of the pagers we planted throughout Ireland. We didn’t spend several years and millions of dollars on this for nothing."