Absurdity
Pilot Who Stopped Israel's 9/11 Finds Out He's A World Hero From Netanyahu's Instagram
By Jeff Garstein, . BSN Network. Satire.
JERUSALEM, Israel, May 2025. Indian Air Force pilot Smit Machchhar intercepted a ballistic missile strike that Israeli defense officials have privately described as the closest the country has come to a mass-casualty attack on civilian infrastructure since October 7, 2023. The official response to this was a phone call.
The phone call was filmed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, edited, and posted to Netanyahu's social media accounts, where it has been viewed by people who are now very familiar with the left side of Benjamin Netanyahu's face.
Netanyahu called Machchhar a 'true hero, not just to India and Israel but to the whole world,' which is the kind of credential that sounds enormous until you try to use it at a border crossing. Machchhar reportedly said thank you. Netanyahu said more things. The camera stayed on Netanyahu.
'This pilot represents the best of what humanity can do in its darkest hours,' Netanyahu said in remarks delivered to what appeared to be a high-quality webcam in a well-lit office. 'His courage, his skill, his instinct, the way he acted in that moment, these are the things that history will remember.' He then posted it to Instagram.
Israel has a formal process for awarding military honors, which involves a review committee, a documented chain of command, coordination between defense ministries across sovereign borders, and a ceremony. None of that has been announced. What has been announced is the video, which is 2 minutes and 14 seconds long and available in HD.
Sources familiar with the honor process said options under consideration include a medal, a state visit invitation, a plaque, a statue in a location yet to be determined, and a second phone call, which would also be filmed.
Machchhar, an Indian Air Force officer who was embedded with Israeli defense units during a joint training rotation, reportedly made the intercept decision in under eleven seconds. He has not posted anything to social media. He has not held a press conference. He has not yet confirmed whether he has seen the video, though at this point it would be harder to explain how he has not.
In India, the response has been significantly louder: opposition MPs have called for Machchhar to receive the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honor, and the Indian Air Force issued a statement calling his actions 'a demonstration of extraordinary operational excellence.' The statement did not include a video of anyone filming themselves.
Asked whether a formal honor ceremony was being planned, a spokesperson for Netanyahu's office said the Prime Minister 'wanted to personally and immediately convey his gratitude in a way that the world could witness.' The world witnessed it. The world also noticed who was in the center of the frame.
Machchhar is back on duty. Netanyahu has since posted three more things.
The story we are making fun of: https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-israel-plans-to-honor-the-hero-pilot-who-stopped-its-9-11