Bettors on Polymarket allegedly made death threats to an Israeli reporter as they pressured him to change an article he wrote about an Iranian missile strike, according to a report.
Emanuel Fabian, a military correspondent for the Times of Israel, detailed the ordeal in a Monday article, reporting that the threats began after he wrote a short piece about an Iranian ballistic missile that hit outside the town of Beit Shemesh on March 10, causing no injuries.
Fabian reported that bettors on crypto-based Polymarket took interest in the report because they had placed wagers on whether Iran would carry out a missile, drone or air strike in Israel on March 10.
Fabian said he received multiple messages urging him to correct his report to say the missile had been intercepted and the blast resulted from falling debris. Polymarket’s betting rules indicate an intercepted missile strike doesn’t count.
“If you do not correct this by 01:00 Israel time today, March 15, you are bringing upon yourself damage you have never imagined you would suffer,” a WhatsApp message sent to Fabian read in Hebrew from someone named Haim. “After you make us lose $900,000 we will invest no less than that to finish you,” another message read.
Polymarket’s betting contract on a March 10 Iranian strike on Israel drew about $15 million in trading volume, with some users wagering tens of thousands of dollars, data from the platform shows.
“86 minutes left. You are the only one responsible for your life,” the WhatsApp user wrote, according to Fabian, who noted that some of the threats included details about the location of his home and family members.
The bettors also attempted to bribe Fabian: “End this with money in your pocket, and also earn back the life you had until now,” one wrote, according to Fabian.
Fabian contacted Israeli police over the threats and has continued covering the conflict. Fabian couldn’t be reached for comment.
“Polymarket condemns the harassment and threats directed at Emanuel Fabian, or anyone else for that matter,” a Polymarket spokesperson said. “This behavior violates our terms of service and has no place on our platform or anywhere else. Prediction markets depend on the integrity of independent reporting. Attempts to pressure journalists to alter their reporting undermine that integrity and undermine the markets themselves.”
Fabian rebuffed the demands for corrections and even supplied explanations for why the article was accurate, citing information from the Israeli military and his own analysis of video.
“The footage also shows a massive explosion of hundreds of kilograms of explosives from the warhead,” Fabian said he responded to one message. “Normally, a fragment does not produce such an explosion.”
One person who identified as Daniel doctored a response from Fabian to acknowledge the article contained an error and said a correction was in the works. The response spread on social media though Fabian said he never wrote such a message.
That fabricated post only invited more harassment, Fabian wrote.
The threatening messages escalated and one harasser initiated a countdown: “I am requesting a response from you in the next 10 minutes. We offered you to end this quietly with a profit in your pocket and everything disappears. But it seems you think you can stall for time.”
“You made a fatal mistake and you’d better respond to us,” the user added. “I expect a response from you within 9 minutes from now … We will not give up on sums [of money] like these … One minute remains…”
