Prime Minister Netanyahu has posted a second video of himself in public in as many days in response to online conspiracy theories that he had been killed in an Iranian strike.
A number of prominent pro-Iran social media accounts amplified the claims, as did Iranian and North Korean state media, racking up millions of views.
Even when the prime minister addressed the nation in his first press conference of the war, the footage was selectively clipped to make it appear AI-generated.
To put the speculation to bed, Netanyahu posted a clip of himself buying a coffee on his official X channel with the caption: "They say I'm what? Watch."
In the video, he joked: "I'm dying for coffee, you know what I mean?"
He then called on Israelis to "keep following Home Front Command orders at all times", adding: "Even heads of state—always near a protected room."
"Your support is amazing - it empowers me, the government, the IDF. We're doing things I can't share now, but very strong ops in Iran & Lebanon today too," he went on, before glancing at his latte and again making light of the conspiracies, saying: "I don't know about calories... this looks dangerous for me."
However, social media was subsequently flooded with accusations that this clip was a deepfake AI video based on images of a visit Netanyahu made to the same coffee shop in 2024.
On Monday morning, he posted a second clip of him taking photos with supporters outside the café, captioned: “Sticking to the guidelines and winning together.”
Baseless claims of the deaths of senior Israeli figures have become a key feature of the pro-Iranian propaganda effort online.
As the JC , false claims that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had been killed, misleadingly citing a report of a car crash in which he was involved in 2024, gained millions of views on X.
And footage supposedly showing the aftermath of the missile strike on the "Netanyahu family home", the same strike which many claimed had killed the prime minister, was actually identified as a clip of a New Jersey house fire from last year.
Likewise, several pro-Iran commentators, including former British MP George Galloway, have spread claims that Tel Aviv has been all but destroyed by Iranian missiles.
In a video posted to social media, Galloway claimed that Israel’s second city “now looks like Gaza” and that “anyone releasing pictures of the damage in Tel Aviv is immediately sent to five years in prison”.
In response, a number of prominent Israeli influencers have posted videos of themselves standing in the streets of Tel Aviv, including those mentioned by Galloway as supposedly in ruins, with no missile damage visible.
An AI-generated video purportedly showing significant missile impacts in central Tel Aviv also went viral, gaining millions of views before it was identified as manipulated.
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