Polymarket Death Threats Target Israeli War Reporter
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A military correspondent for the Times of Israel faced a barrage of Polymarket death threats, fabricated evidence, and coordinated harassment after gamblers wagered more than $14 million on whether Iran struck Israel on March 10 — and needed his reporting changed to collect.
Emanuel Fabian, the outlet’s military correspondent, reported that an Iranian ballistic missile hit an open area near Beit Shemesh, roughly 500 meters from homes, with no injuries. That single line of factual reporting set off what he describes as days of escalating intimidation from bettors who stood to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars if his account stood.
No injuries are reported in Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack on Israel, the fourth today.
One missile struck an open area just outside Beit Shemesh, first responders say and footage shows.
Sirens had sounded across the Jerusalem area, the West Bank, and parts of southern… pic.twitter.com/j6sovAsDwz
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 10, 2026
Polymarket Death Threats Begin With Polite Emails
It started with seemingly reasonable emails. Two men, identifying themselves as Aviv and Daniel, contacted Fabian separately within 24 hours, each claiming his report was inaccurate and that the object was an intercepted missile fragment — not a warhead. Fabian held firm, noting that footage showed a massive explosion consistent with hundreds of kilograms of explosives, a scale no fragment produces.
The pressure quickly widened. Messages arrived via WhatsApp, Discord, and X. One sender circulated a fabricated screenshot purporting to show Fabian agreeing to correct his article — a message he never wrote. A colleague from another outlet was also approached and offered a cut of the winnings if he could convince Fabian to update his story.
The stakes were real. Polymarket’s rules for the “Iran strikes Israel on…?” market required an unintercepted missile landing on Israeli soil for a “Yes” resolution. With over $14 million wagered on March 10 alone, bettors on the “No” side needed Fabian’s version of events buried.
Reporter Files Police Report After Explicit Threats
The campaign turned openly threatening overnight between Saturday and Sunday, March 15. A man identifying himself as Haim sent Fabian a series of WhatsApp messages, giving him a 30-minute deadline to alter his report. “After you make us lose $900,000 we will invest no less than that to finish you,” Haim wrote. He referenced Fabian’s home neighborhood, his parents, and his siblings by detail. “It took them less than 5 minutes to find out exactly where you live,” the message read.
A person posing as a lawyer named Vered then called Fabian, claiming a U.S.-based company had retained her to investigate his alleged market manipulation. Fabian hung up and went to police. The investigation is now underway.
The Polymarket death threats continued even after Fabian left for the police station. As he ran to a bomb shelter during another Iranian missile attack early Monday, further messages arrived: “You will pay the full price for your irresponsible act.”
Fabian did not change his report.
- Over $14 million wagered on a single day’s Iran strike market
- Polymarket allows cryptocurrency, card, and bank transfer bets
- An Israeli military reservist and civilian were indicted last month for using classified information to bet on Israel’s war with Iran
“The attempt by these gamblers to pressure me to change my reporting so that they would win their bet did not and will not succeed,” Fabian wrote, adding that he worries less ethical journalists might cave if promised a share of the winnings — a risk he calls an “unnerving new arena, where reality, journalism, gambling and criminality intertwine.”
