Israeli PM’s office airbrushes Netanyahu’s ‘Yeltsin’ gaffe

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has released a video that clumsily tries to edit out a gaffe where he calls the British prime minister the wrong name.

Netanyahu misspoke at Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting, referring to his British counterpart Boris Johnson as Boris Yeltsin, the former Russian president who died in 2007. Cabinet ministers immediately corrected his error.

But an official video of the meeting released hours later suddenly cuts away from Netanyahu at the moment he says Yeltsin — instead he’s heard saying “Boris Johnson.”

The gaffe comes as Netanyahu fights for his survival ahead of next week’s re-do election. His campaign has branded the long-serving leader as a veteran statesman with close relations with world leaders.

The two premiers met Thursday during Netanyahu’s snap trip to London.