Massive Blunder
Wardrobe Fail: Bibi and Sara's Outfits Mirror Palestinian Flag (and everyone is horrified)
The Prime Minister and his wife’s traditional pre-flight photo went viral after critics noticed their coordinated outfits matched the colours of the Palestinian flag. The huge wardrobe mistake has been called a major political blunder just before the couple’s high-stakes trip to the UN.
The traditional pre-flight photo of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara Netanyahu, before their departure for the UN General Assembly in New York, has inadvertently created a massive controversy on social media due to their coordinated outfits. Critics were quick to point out that the combined colours worn by the couple closely resembled the Palestinian flag.
The Prime Minister departed last night for his address at the UN, taking an extraordinarily long and unusual flight path to avoid European airspace, a necessary precaution against the potential enforcement of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant.
Before boarding their plane, the Netanyahus posed for the customary photographs. The selection of colours in their meticulously chosen wardrobes immediately raised eyebrows among social media users. Prime Minister Netanyahu wore a classic black tuxedo with a white collared shirt and a red tie. Beside him, Sara Netanyahu, whose fashion choices are managed by stylist Sandra Ringle, wore a tailored suit in a dark green shade, featuring satin lapels, over a lighter, almost mint-coloured base shirt.
Taken together, the colours; black, white, red, and green, are the defining hues of the Palestinian flag.
The visual blunder quickly went viral, triggering a wave of commentary, including both Israeli and pro-Palestinian reactions. One Israeli follower on the Prime Minister’s Instagram page wrote, "A really successful choice by the stylist to dress them like the Palestinian flags." Others added fuel to the fire among the thousands of comments, with remarks like, "Did you pull off a look for the Palestinian state, or are those the colours of Sparta?" and "You look like the Palestinian flag (vomiting emoji)."
Fashion and political observers questioned whether the colour coordination was a massive oversight by the couple's style team or an inexplicable psychological game. The blunder is considered particularly egregious given the highly sensitive political context and the clear knowledge that their photograph would be intensely scrutinized. The "perfect" framed shot, featuring the official blue-and-white governmental plane and several Israeli flags in the background, only amplified the visual gaffe.
For figures in high-level politics, wardrobe is a critical element of messaging and protocol. The mistake has been widely labelled a severe and unforgivable error on the part of the beauty and styling team, one that managed to overshadow the significance of the UN visit itself.