Is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dead? As the war between Israel, the United States and Iran continues, some people claim it on social media.
Prime Minister “ on social media on SundayWhat are they saying I am? Watch>>” denied the rumors by sharing a video titled. The answer to that question is no.
A voice in the clip confirming that verification experts are real Netanyahu’ya “Online people say you're dead” says.
He answers like this: I'm dying for “Coffee. I'm crazy about coffee. You know what? I'm angry with my people. How are they behaving? Oh, that's great. Do you want me to count my fingers?”
Since the US and Israel began military action against Iran ’ on February 28, Iranian state media and pro-regime accounts have published reports of Netanyahu ’'s and other senior Israeli political figures' deaths, as well as propaganda about their military power.
Conspiracy theorists, self-proclaimed journalists and Internet detectives also joined the caravan, spreading allegations about Netanyahu’'s death on social media.
Why did Netanyahu post the coffeehouse video?
Following a speech on March 12, ’, which led social media users to claim that the video was created by artificial intelligence, Netanyahu released the clip after rumors about ’'s death intensified, pointing to a frame that allegedly had six fingers instead of five.
In reality, the images are original, but low-quality versions of the broadcast have distorted the way light strikes the hand. Five fingers can be seen in high-quality versions of the speech.
In response, Netanyahu raised five fingers on camera in the café's proof-of-life video, in an attempt to refute false allegations.
Netanyahu’'s coffeehouse video was filmed on March 15 at the Sataf cafe in ’, Jerusalem Heights. The café helped prove the visit was real by posting videos and photos of Netanyahu’'s visit on social media.
In a post published on Instagram’ after his visit to Kahvehane, “We were delighted to welcome the Prime Minister and his team to Staf’ today! They know which bakery to visit.”
But despite this attempt to suppress the rumors, the clip had the opposite effect on social media; Many users have doubled down on the claim that the video is made with artificial intelligence, and others have argued that the video is outdated.
Jerusalem cafe claims video is fake
On March 16, the Tasnim News Agency, led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, published an article titled ’Netanyahu“'s New Video Proves It's Fake, listing a series of so-called narrative signs as evidence that the cafe video, aimed at refuting rumors of death, was created by artificial intelligence itself.
This piece included a screenshot of an X post, where the results of an AI detector were shared, listing that the video was created digitally.
The water became even more blurred when people turned to Grok’, the X’in artificial intelligence chatbot, to verify the authenticity of Netanyahu’'s images in the cafe.
Grok shared contradictory claims, pointing out that, in some cases, signs such as “static coffee levels, unnatural lip synchronization, and the day-to-day conversations of operations confirm that this is a fake by labeling the video as ”derin fake “.
Euronews’'s verification team, The Cube, contacted X and asked why these Grok posts were not removed at the time of publication, but received no response.
However, experts warned that artificial intelligence and deepfake detectors should be treated with caution, and in this case, they are not reliable.
Verification expert Tal Hagin told us: “Most of these softwares are looking for inconsistencies and are based on probability. If you hold your hand in an abnormal position, the detector can tell it's artificial intelligence unless it's statistically normal for someone to hold their hand like this.”
Hagin, “But in real life a person can keep himself this way and so we can't trust these platforms, ” said.
We base the evidence on reality, not what people want to believe, “ added. “If this video were AI, it would literally be the most advanced AI model that has ever existed. And you can't say on the internet that Netanyahu’'s team has access to a new model of hidden AI. You need proof. - ”
Is the video old?
Several social media accounts claimed that the sighting of security guards wearing face masks during footage of Netanyahu’'s coffeehouse visit was evidence that the footage was taken during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In reality, members of the Shin Bet VIP Protection Unit, responsible for the security of ’'s top government, including the prime minister of Israel, had previously worn face masks to hide their identities.
Social media users also claimed that the bill in the video was dated 2024.
Tal Hagin told us that such alleged clues could be easily refuted.
“Most of the types of errors people saw, such as the receipt they said was from 2024, were due to only viewing low-quality images, ” said. “When you look at better quality images, it clearly says the year 2026.”
Other leaders have also been the target of death rumors.
Netanyahu is just one of the top Israeli officials at the center of death rumors as the war in the Middle East’ continues.
X’te social media users shared images of the scene, alleging that David Barnea’, chief of ’'s Mossad in Israel, was killed.
However, there is no confirmed evidence to support the allegations about the death of Barnea’, who will be the director of Mossad’ until June 2026.
Also widely circulated on social media, the crime scene videos are actually related to the August 2024 ’te Tel Aviv’de Hamas’'s armed wing Al Qassam Brigades, the aftermath of the suicide attack ’ claimed responsibility for.
– Euronews contacted the Israeli prime minister for comment, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
