The clarification was issued after a correspondent of Anadolu Agency asked his office regarding the claim that “Prime Minister Netanyahu was assassinated” circulating on digital platforms. In response, Prime Minister Netanyahu dismissed the reports, saying, “These are fake news. The prime minister will be fine.”
The rumors gained momentum on Friday when the Israeli prime minister posted a video of a press conference discussing the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran. Some social media users claimed the footage was generated by AI and claimed to have identified six fingers on the prime minister’s right hand.
Specifically, viewers pointed to the moment at 0:35 when Netanyahu raises his hands, claiming that the extra flesh visible near his little finger is a “classic AI finger glitch.”
American conservative commentator Candace Owens also joined in the conversation, asking, “Where’s Bibi?” In a post to
However, X’s AI chatbot Grok confirmed the allegations, revealing that Prime Minister Netanyahu is missing six fingers. We explained that visual anomalies are optical illusions caused by shadows, the angle of the hand, or the natural shape of the palm, such as the hyphenate ridge. The chatbot pointed out that official footage from the Israeli government press office confirmed that a standard hand has five fingers.
These rumors come in the context of a significant regional escalation that began on February 28, when a joint Israeli and US offensive was launched against Iran. The death of former supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei on the first day of the conflict prompted Iran to launch retaliatory attacks against neighboring oil exporting countries. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz amid major disruption to global trade. This narrow waterway is an important energy route, typically facilitating the transportation of about 20 million barrels of oil and nearly 20 percent of the world’s liquefied natural gas trade each day.
