The video shows an AI-generated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talking about the Iran war while holding up six fingers on his right hand, suggesting authorities are trying to hide the fact that he was killed in an Iranian missile attack.
There was no reliable evidence to suggest that Prime Minister Netanyahu had died, much less that the video in question was generated by AI. The Israeli Government Press Office published the original video of Netanyahu’s speech online on March 12, 2026. Netanyahu’s hand apparently had five fingers instead of six. In one case, a user visually mistook his hypothenar eminence (the name for the bulge at the base of the human little finger) for a sixth finger.
In March 2026, social media users claimed to have been shown images and videos showing an artificial intelligence-generated depiction of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a speech on the Iran war. Users claimed that he had six fingers on his right hand, one of many signs that the image may have been generated using AI.
These images and videos allegedly prove that Israeli authorities used AI to cover up the fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was killed during an Iranian missile attack.
In short, this rumor was false. The images and video clips did not show Netanyahu with six AI-generated fingers on his right (or left) hand.
A closer look at the Israeli Government Press Office’s original video (marks 0:34 and 0:54) shows five fingers on each hand instead of six. Snopes reported on March 12 that despite rumors on the internet, there was no credible evidence to suggest Prime Minister Netanyahu’s death.
Where the Netanyahu rumors spread
As a prime example of a rumor circulating online, on March 12, an X user posted (archived): “Last time I checked, humans don’t normally have six fingers… AI does. Is Netenyahu gone?”
On March 13, an Instagram user who cross-posted with an account providing Iranian military news posted: “The latest video released by the government itself shows that Netanyahu has six fingers, indicating it was generated by AI. The question now is: is Netanyahu just hiding, was he killed, or is he seriously injured?”
Users shared screenshots and video clips promoting Netanyahu’s claims on Bluesky (archive), Facebook (archive), Instagram, Threads (archive), TikTok (archive), X (archive), and YouTube (archive).
A user who runs the Instagram account @eye.on.palestine, which has 13.5 million followers, also reposted the rumor, but later deleted it. The post’s caption originally read: “Six fingers and a technical glitch… Prime Minister Netanyahu’s latest video raises suspicions: Is it real or AI-generated? And what are they trying to hide about his whereabouts?”
We privately messaged the user and asked about removing the post. We will update this article as more information becomes available.
Examine the original video
On March 12, the Israeli Government Press Office released a video of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Iran war speech online. At the 0:34 mark, Netanyahu is pointing with his right hand. If you look closely you can see that there are 5 fingers instead of 6. The user visually mistook the hypothenar eminence (the name for the bulge at the base of the human little finger) on his hand for the sixth finger.
The 0:54 mark of the speech video shows the alleged technical glitch involving Netanyahu’s left hand, which user @eye.on.palestine mentioned, with Netanyahu appearing to make a claw-like gesture with his left hand. The Getty Images media licensing website has previously published photos of Netanyahu making a very similar gesture with his left hand.
As a precaution, we scanned the offending portion of the video using AI and deepfake detection tools and found there was a 0.1% chance that it was generated by AI.
In more detail, we previously reported on claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin had posted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been killed in an airstrike.
