Israeli PM Netanyahu mocks social media death rumours
Combative Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed circulating rumours on social media claiming he had died, posting a short video online in which he jokingly addressed the speculation.
In the video shared Sunday on his official X account, the Israeli premier appeared relaxed while receiving a cup of coffee at a café outside Jerusalem.
“I’m dead for coffee,” he said sarcastically, using a colloquial Hebrew expression that means loving something to death.
Netanyahu then held up his hands to the camera and joked: “Do you want to count the number of fingers?”, a remark aimed at online speculation that his recent televised address had been generated using artificial intelligence after some users claimed he appeared to have six fingers in the footage.
The video was widely interpreted as an attempt to dispel the rumours while mocking the conspiracy theories spreading online.
Despite the light tone, Netanyahu also used the moment to deliver a more serious message to Israelis amid ongoing regional tensions.
He urged citizens to continue observing safety instructions in the event of incoming rockets, saying their resilience strengthens the country’s leadership and security agencies.
“Your resilience gives strength to me, to the government, to the army, and to the Mossad,” he said, referring to Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad.
The exchange underscores the deepening hostility between US backed Israel and Iran amid an increasingly volatile regional conflict.
Netanyahu added that Israel was carrying out operations that could not yet be publicly disclosed. “We are doing things that I cannot share at this moment, but we are striking Iran very hard, and also Lebanon,” he said.
His remarks came as tensions escalated in the region, with Iran’s elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, issuing a direct threat against the Israeli leader.
According to Iran’s state news agency Islamic Republic News Agency, the IRGC vowed it would “pursue and kill ‘child-killer’ Netanyahu if he is still alive,” as the conflict between Israel and Iran — involving the United States — entered its third week.
