NEWS DESK (MNN); Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to respond to online rumours about his death by posting a video on his account on the social media platform X.
The video, shared on Sunday evening, shows Netanyahu preparing a cup of coffee while someone behind the camera asks him about circulating claims that he had died. The clip was widely interpreted as a response to the rumours that had spread on social media earlier.
The video’s caption read: “They say I am what?”
According to a report by The Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu is heard speaking in Hebrew during the short exchange. In the conversation, he remarks that he loves coffee and loves his nation.
The report noted that Netanyahu used the Hebrew slang word “met”, which can mean “love” in casual conversation but is also the Hebrew word for “dead”. Interpreted humorously, his statement could be understood as saying he is “dead for coffee”.
In another moment in the video, Netanyahu appears to mock speculation circulating online that a recent video posted on his account had been created using artificial intelligence.
He asks the person filming whether they would like to count his fingers and then raises both hands toward the camera.
According to The Jerusalem Post, this gesture was meant to respond to claims circulating online that a video posted on Friday allegedly showed him with six fingers, leading some internet users to suggest that the footage had been artificially generated.
Earlier, Netanyahu’s office had already dismissed claims circulating on social media suggesting that he had been killed in an Iranian response to recent US and Israeli military strikes.
When asked by a reporter from Anadolu Agency whether there was any truth to claims that Netanyahu had been assassinated, his office responded that the reports were false and confirmed that the prime minister was safe.
The rumours had been amplified by several social media users who speculated about his absence from a recent war council meeting.
Some online commentators also pointed to a video of Netanyahu’s address shared on his X account, claiming that the clip appeared to show six fingers on one hand and suggesting it might have been manipulated.
The speculation comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East following a war that began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran.
The same day, Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei was assassinated in a strike attributed to the US and Israel.
Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s elite military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, vowed to target Netanyahu.
In a statement published on its official website Sepah News, the Guards warned that if Netanyahu was alive, they would continue efforts to pursue and eliminate him.
