Amid AI videos and silence, questions linger over Netanyahu’s status

There is little or no ‘credible’ evidence to suggest that Israel’s prime minister is not alive. Doubts that he has been severely injured or killed however have been reinforced by videos released by his office. Why release videos, allegedly generated by Artificial Intelligence, if he is truly hale and hearty? The videos themselves have been far too casual in view of the fact that Israel is in the middle of a protracted war. It is unusual for the Israeli media to report that the prime minister has missed several meetings of his cabinet on security but still finds time to shoot videos in a café in Jerusalem and from a hilltop, chatting with people.

Conspiracy theorists have of course gone to town calling out discrepancies and questioning if Netanyahu is left-handed or right-handed. Some of them have even wondered why President Donald Trump made no mention of ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu during his media interaction at the White House. Why didn’t anyone ask when the US President had last spoken to the Israeli prime minister, who allegedly dragged the US into the war with Iran?

“Ok, don’t get mad, and I don’t want to be the conspiracy theory guy, and I swear I have resisted all the ‘Netanyahu is dead’ stuff… but this looks so fake,” posted Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief of Zeteo News while sharing the following video showing Netanyahu on a hilltop. The Israeli prime minister is seen chatting with a group of women relaxing on chairs and enjoying the view. The video can be seen here:

Asked how one could tell it is generated by AI, Grok replied, “By spotting classic AI: unnatural orange skin tone (AI often struggles with realistic complexions), overly smooth/blurry textures lacking photo grain, inconsistent lighting/shadows on the face vs. background, and synthetic symmetry in features/eyes…”. Others pointed out that in the 28^th second one can see a ring on Netanyahu’s finger. But the next second it disappears. However, such discrepancies have been sought to be explained by pointing to degradation of AI-generated images over time and repeated use and share.

“Images and videos don't prove anything these days. AI capabilities are endless, as demonstrated here”, posted Dutch researcher, songwriter and producer Frank Hoogerbeets in this eight second video:

That AI has blurred the distinction between the ‘real’ and the ‘fake’ is borne out by several videos which show Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un at the same café in Jerusalem, holding a similar cup of coffee as Netanyahu. In fact, in one of the videos circulating on X, Netanyahu is shown doing a somersault with the cup of coffee in his hand—without the coffee spilling of course!

Not to be left behind, an apparently Iranian handle posted this video of Iran’s new supreme leader at the café in Jerusalem:

Besides the AI controversy, it is said that Netanyahu missing his 7th consecutive ‘security cabinet meeting’ is unusual. Since 9 March he has not been seen with a single world leader and if he is really as well as the videos make it out, what prevents him from appearing before the international media? If Netanyahu wanted to prove he's alive and well, he could just face an international press pool and take questions. It's bizarre that he would appear in coffee shops and hilltops in a war zone and miss cabinet meetings, it is being pointed out.

To add to the suspense, his planned meeting with Ukrainian president Zelensky fell through and so did the visit of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Tel Aviv. So, the questions therefore persist.

Where is Benjamin Netanyahu?

Conspiracy theorists have claimed that he was indeed injured and is in a coma; that he was flown to Berlin and is undergoing treatment in a hospital. Meanwhile his son, a compulsive user on X, has re-surfaced after a eight-day gap but is seen re-posting his earlier posts, fuelling more speculation if others are re-posting them on his behalf.