A post shared on X purports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once said “America is a golden calf and we will suck it dry, chop it up, and sell it off piece by piece.”

🇺🇸 American tax dollars people your thoughts on this?

Benjamin Netanyahu, 1990
captured quote of a recording from a meeting

“America is a golden calf and we will suck it dry, chop it up, and sell it off piece by piece until there is nothing left but the world’s biggest welfare… pic.twitter.com/LLlk1KYsgM

— Liott ツ (@Liott521437) January 19, 2024

Verdict: False

The claim is false. There is no evidence Netanyahu made the purported remark.

Fact Check:

Netanyahu recently said that most Americans still back Israel in its current conflict with Hamas, despite recent comments from President Joe Biden that appear to indicate otherwise, according to Axios. Biden claimed Israel will lose international support if the country continues down a conservative path during a recent appearance on NBC’s “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” the outlet reported.

“America is a golden calf and we will suck it dry, chop it up, and sell it off piece by piece until there is nothing left but the world’s biggest welfare state that we will create and control… This is what we do to countries that we hate. We destroy them very slowly,” the quote attributed to Netanyahu via the X post reads. The post claims Netanyahu was purportedly recorded saying the quote in 1990 while working as a Soviet agent. The post has been viewed over 1,000 times as of writing.

The claim is false, however. The X post includes a link to the website “Veterans Today” as the source of the quote. Upon clicking the link, users receive a 404 error that the “page does not exist.” The same thing happens with a link to the website, “Euro-Med.dk,” which is also included in the post.

Likewise, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports suggesting Netanyahu made the purported remark. In fact, the opposite is true. Snopes also debunked the claim in a Mar. 4 article. According to the outlet, an archived version “Veterans Today” included a disclaimer indicating the site could not “guarantee [the] absolute validity” of its content. Additionally, the outlet noted that Netanyahu did not become the prime minister of Israel until 1996, while the purported quote is from 1990. (RELATED: X Image Does Not Show French Sniper, Predates Israel-Hamas Conflict)

Furthermore, the purported remark does not appear on Netanyahu’s verified social media accounts.

Check Your Fact has contacted Netanyahu for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.