Israeli Minister’s Exit Marred by ChatGPT-Fueled Bible Blunder

Meir Porush, the outgoing Minister for Jerusalem and Heritage Affairs, managed to fumble his farewell by quoting a biblical verse that doesn’t exist, apparently courtesy of ChatGPT’s dubious scriptural expertise.

Porush, who stepped down at the behest of Agudat Yisrael’s Council of Torah Sages, signed off with an order to seize Jewish-owned shops on HaShalshelet Street in Jerusalem’s Old City, a bustling market linking Jaffa Gate to the Temple Mount and Western Wall Plaza. In his letter to Hertzel Ben Ari, he tried to wax poetic with a blessing: “And I will build Jerusalem and have mercy on her,” which he claimed came from Zechariah 1:16.

Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. i24 reporter Avishai Grinzaig flipped open a Bible and found the real verse: “Therefore, thus says the Lord: I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, says the Lord of Hosts, and a measuring line shall be stretched over Jerusalem.” Whoops. Looks like someone—Porush or his assistant—thought ChatGPT was a rabbi, not a robot, and got a mangled Hebrew translation of an English verse instead.

Since Porush has already bolted from office, he gets to dodge the fallout of this AI-assisted embarrassment. Better luck next time, and maybe stick to a real Tanakh.