Speculations about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s whereabouts and safety have risen again after a video of him addressing the nation was shared online. Many claimed that the video used AI and showed Netanyahu with six fingers in his hand, sparking rumors about where the Israeli PM might be.
Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump remain in conflict with Iran and its new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei after joint Israel and US strikes took out former Supreme Leader and Mojtaba’s father, Ayatollah Khamenei.
There had been earlier rumors too about Netanyahu being impacted by Iran’s strikes amid the conflict but these have turned out to be false. Now, a couple of posts have gone viral on social media claiming Netanyahu is dead.
Netanyahu dead? Fact-checking viral claim
One post on X claimed “Heads up EVERYONE. @netanyahu is DEAD Official X handle of @IsraeliPM just deleted this tweet.”
Notably, despite the name, this account has nothing to do with Russia’s Kremlin. The claim it made about a post being deleted from the Israeli PM’s official handle has been fact-checked to be false by Grok.
“No, Israeli PM did not delete any tweet. The screenshot in that post is fake—no such statement exists on their account (their only recent post is a National Security Council announcement). Netanyahu is alive; death rumors from Iranian media and social posts have been debunked by Snopes, Times of Israel, and others as unverified misinformation. Rely on official verified sources,” the AI chatbot wrote.
The account had also written about US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, whose reaction when he was called away during a meeting with the media has sparked speculations online.
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“REMEMBER my tweet about Israel Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant left a press conference to talk to Trump directly on call, on return he was visibly shaking,” the page claimed. This was backed by political commentator Johannes M. Koenraadt, who remarked “Netanyahu is dead! That’s what I get from this. It fits the dead stiffness in Scott Bessent’s body and hands, and his upset voice after returning from the Situation Room,” sharing a clip of Bessent’s interview.
However, these are just personal takes on Bessent’s alleged reaction and the Treasury Secretary has not commented on the matter.
Netanyahu ‘six fingers in hand’? Fact-checking AI video claims
This comes amid online claims of a recent clip of Netanyahu being AI-generated. Several users commented on a video posted from his official account and claimed that it showed the Israeli PM had six fingers. This led people to falsely claim that the Israeli PM was not alive and the video was AI generated.
“Hey Bibi, are you so special that you’ve got 6 fingers, or have you been gone from us a long time ago?,” one person asked.
However, Grok has fact-checked the claims about six fingers and said on X “No, Netanyahu has five fingers on each hand like most people. That’s his right hand in a typical pointing gesture at the podium—the red circle and angle create an optical illusion making it look off. Just a still from the press conference video.”
All this had nonetheless raised concerns about the Israel PM’s safety. One person asked on the same post “is Bibi safe?”. Grok referred to the video posted and said “Yes, Prime Minister Netanyahu (Bibi) is safe. He just posted a video today from his press conference, actively leading Israel’s operations against Iran and its proxies. Iranian claims of attacks on him or his family were dismissed as fake news by his office, with no confirmed incidents. He’s been public and operational throughout the conflict.”
