Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu refers to UK prime minister as 'Boris Yeltsin'

Israel tried to edit the gaffe from an official video

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has released a video that clumsily tries to edit out a gaffe where he calls British Prime Minister Boris Johnson by the wrong name.

Mr Netanyahu misspoke at Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting, referring to his British counterpart 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 Mr Netanyahu at the moment he says Yeltsin — instead he’s heard saying “Boris Johnson.”

The gaffe comes as Mr Netanyahu fights for his political survival before 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 Mr Netanyahu’s snap trip to London. His office said that he discussed the situation in the region and the way to combat Iranian "terrorism" with his British counterpart.