Netanyahu Trolls Conspiracy Theorists Duped Into Thinking He Was Dead by AI Video

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trolled conspiracy theorists on X Sunday, after AI-generated rumors swirled about his demise.

The death hoax allegedly began by Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, “a media outlet linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps” that “claimed the prime minister was killed in a missile strike last week, a story then amplified across social media,” i24 News reported.

The report added, “An image allegedly showing Netanyahu being pulled from rubble was an AI fabrication,” while “AI-generated videos claiming Tel Aviv has been ‘flattened’ have become one of the war’s most virulent falsehoods.”

The scuttlebutt about Netanyahu’s alleged assassination gained steam on social media after conspiracy theorists claimed they counted six fingers on his hand as he gave a speech. Some postulated that the video of Netanyahu’s speech was generated by AI, which meant that the real Netanyahu was dead.

The prime minister posted a video to X on Sunday that showed him grabbing a cup of coffee at a local shop.

“I love coffee, I love my nation,” a smiling Netanyahu said in Hebrew that was translated into English by The Jerusalem Post. The prime minister then asked the person recording him if they wanted to count his fingers before Netanyahu held up his hands, one after another, to show he only had five fingers on each hand.

The translated Jerusalem Post report continued:

He followed this by urging the Israeli public to stay near sheltered areas even as they go outside, and that the public’s strength “gives him, the government, the IDF, and the Mossad strength.”

“We are doing things that I can’t share at the moment,” he said, adding that the IDF has and will continue striking Iran and Lebanon “very hard.”

“You tell me to keep going?” he said. “I’m telling you also. Keep going.”

“Keep listening to the Home Front Command’s instructions all the time, the mayors, and to always stay near shelter,” Netanyahu concluded, adding that restrictions will ease when the situation allows.

Both Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump have long been considered targets of the Iranian regime, never more so than now as strikes rain down on the Islamic Republic.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!