“Do you want to count my fingers?”: the video with which Netanyahu addresses the rumors about his death at the hands of Iran

He looks a little less energetic, thinner and with the folds in his skin that his 76 years are leaving. But that is, in reality, his recent image. Otherwise, there are no changes in the video that he has released as proof of life, after there has been strong speculation about his assassination at the hands of Iran. The prime minister of Israel is still alive, healthy and intact, even in the mood for joking, it seems.

This Sunday, he published a small video via Telegram in which he appears having a coffee and chatting with his assistant, trying to dispel doubts. In the images, recorded in a cafe on the outskirts of Jerusalem, his assistant asks him directly about the rumors of his death. The Likud leader responds with a pun on the term “dead” (dead), which in Hebrew slang is used to describe obsession with someone or something, while drinking a cup of coffee. Something like: “I’m dying for a cup of coffee.” “I love coffee. You know what? I love my people,” Netanyahu retorts.

Media such as have verified the location of the video from archive images of the cafeteria, which coincided with the interior seen in what was published by the president’s office. The date has also been verified with several videos and photos of Netanyahu’s visit published by the cafeteria itself, yesterday, Sunday.

However, there are local journalists who also focus on details that show how abnormal the situation is. “Netanyahu reports that he is alive and that he is also a normal guy who drinks coffee in gulps (“Prime Minister, they say he is dead.” “Me? I’m dying for a coffee” [ja ja]), made up like he was for the Met Gala, wearing a bulletproof vest, surrounded by masked guards in a closed store,” writes, for example, .

Where does speculation come from?

Since February 28, Netanyahu has visited at least two cities hit by Iranian missiles, a hospital, a port and military bases, but access to the media was practically nil and the videos of said trips were distributed only by his office.

Netanyahu, who rarely gives interviews to the Israeli press or holds press conferences – even in peacetime and, even less so, in the last two years, coinciding with his campaign against -, called his first press conference since the start of the war via videoconference last Thursday. This is a similar format to the one used in June during the one between Israel and Iran last summer.

Emergency restrictions imposed in Israel since the start of the war prohibit public gatherings and have kept most of the population in their homes or near shelters and safe rooms, with schools closed in almost all of the country.

In the specific case of the country’s leaders, this also complicates their activity, their meetings and movements. That, plus misinformation from the opposing side, has led to rumors spreading about Netanyahu’s assassination, in response to that of Iran’s supreme leader, who fell on the first day of this contest. But not only: on social networks there has been talk of the hypothetical death or injuries of other senior officials and even Bibi’s brother, Iddo.

The strongest rumor has come from the Iranian news agency Tasnim, a media outlet linked to the , which claimed that the prime minister died in a missile attack last week, a story that was later amplified on social media. An image that supposedly showed Netanyahu being rescued from the rubble was manipulated using artificial intelligence, recalls the .

That appearance, alone, unleashed another wave of conspiracy theories. Some users claimed, with low-quality photographic evidence, that Netanyahu had six fingers, suggesting that the video had been generated by AI. Now the joke of his denial video is understood.

Meanwhile, videos are multiplying, these generated by AI, which claim that Tel Aviv, the capital of Israel, has been “razed.” “Tel Aviv now looks like Gaza,” it read. However, on the ground, the reality is not that. Information warfare is a classic. For example, it has dismantled images that supposedly showed the house of Iddo Netanyahu, the president’s brother, burned down after an Iranian attack. “Through a reverse search, we have verified that the video has been circulating since February 9 and that it corresponds to a fire in a residence in the town of Galloway, New Jersey,” he explains.

Beyond propaganda, the attempt to erode the opponent, there is the problem of censorship in the Israeli media themselves or reporting from the field. that they cannot approach the attacked sites and show everything that is seen: if there are military or intelligence buildings behind the civilian buildings, that cannot be shown. In this way, the true extent of what was affected is unknown and the enemy is not given clues about its success or failure. Something that also happens in Iran.