Opposition chairman Yair Lapid was forced to issue a statement Friday denying reports that he exposed an alleged bribe at the center of the recently signed normalization agreement between Israel and Sudan.

The reports that have been circulating in Sudan are based on a fake news article that appears to be from the English language site of Ynet news, which quotes Lapid telling a Knesset committee that Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok received a $5 million Malibu mansion in exchange for signing the deal.

“Someone is circulating fake news with fabricated comments that I never made about @SudanPMHamdok at a meeting that never happened. I don’t know who is behind it or why they’re doing it but there isn’t a grain of truth to the story,” Lapid tweeted.

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He attached to the post a screen capture of an Arabic WhatsApp message with his purported comments.

“Former Israeli finance minister Yair Lapid accused Hamdok of receiving a bribe in exchange for [agreeing to] normalization with Israel,” the text reads.

Someone is circulating fake news with fabricated comments that I never made about @SudanPMHamdok at a........

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