Picture of PM Shehbaz Sharif shaking hands with Israeli PM is AI-generated

A picture shows Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif shaking hands with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supposedly on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum being held in the Swiss resort of Davos.

Social media users claimed that Pakistan has joined hands with Israel on the so-called ‘Board of Peace’ formed by US President Donald Trump for implementing the second phase of the Gaza peace plan.

The picture was shared after Pakistan accepted the invitation to join the panel. Around sixty countries including Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and the UAE agreed to join the board, while President Trump also announced the Israeli PM also accepted the offer to join.

However, many social media users have objected to Pakistan being on the same panel as Israel, and have spread misinformation that Pakistan has joined hands with the Jewish state.

Fact Check

A social media user, Waqar Malik, posted the picture on X, saying, “Pakistan has announced it will join Trump’s board. Netanyahu and Shehbaz stood in the same row!”

Fact Check Pakistan determined the picture is AI-generated, and thus fake. There has been no known meeting between PM Shehbaz Sharif and Netanyahu in Davos, given that Pakistan does not recognize Israel and has no diplomatic relations.

In fact, the Israeli PM is not attending the annual meeting amid concerns he could be arrested in Switzerland due to a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Foreign Office issued a statement that Pakistan has decided to join the board as “part of its ongoing efforts to support the implementation of the Gaza peace plan”.

Pakistan has reiterated its long standing position on Palestine and “hopes the efforts under the Board of Peace will lead to the realisation of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination through a credible, time-bound political process consistent with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.”

Analysis

Fact Pakistan used AI content detection softwares that confirmed that the image has been generated. Hive Moderation, an AI detection tool, said the picture is “99.9% likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content.”

An analysis by Google Gemini says the image is “almost certainly AI-generated and not a real photograph” due to several visual inconsistencies that indicate it is not authentic.

Text and Logos: The name tags on both suits contain illegible text that does not resemble real language. Additionally, the “World Economic Forum” logo in the background is slightly distorted.

Physical Details: If you look closely at the handshake, the fingers and the way the hands merge are anatomically unnatural. The ears and hair textures also show the “painterly” or smoothed-out quality common in AI generations.

Geopolitical Context: There is no public record of a formal meeting or handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, especially given that Pakistan does not recognize Israel.