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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “very much alive,” Israel’s ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, said on Monday, dismissing viral claims on social media questioning the Israeli leader’s health and the authenticity of a recent video of Netanyahu at a cafe.
Addressing rumors circulating online, Prime Minister Azar said the footage shared by Prime Minister Netanyahu is real and not created using artificial intelligence.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is alive. I met him in person several times when I was in Israel. This video in the cafe was not fabricated by AI. There is a lot of disinformation,” he said.
The clarification came after a flurry of social media posts claiming that a recent speech by Prime Minister Netanyahu was generated using AI and even sparked speculation about his death.
Speculation intensified after Netanyahu shared a short video on X (formerly Twitter) showing him drinking coffee at a cafe. In the video, the Israeli prime minister appears to raise his hand and show five fingers.
What do you mean? >> pic.twitter.com/ijHPkM3ZHZ
– Benjamin Netanyahu March 15, 2026
Some observers interpreted the gesture as a response to earlier viral allegations that an earlier video of Netanyahu contained an AI glitch, with critics claiming the gesture showed six fingers.
The controversy began after social media users pointed out visual inconsistencies in previous videos of Israeli leaders, suggesting deepfake technology may have been used. However, Israeli diplomatic officials dismissed this claim as baseless.
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Azar said the cafe video clearly shows Netanyahu alive and active, and stressed that suggestions of AI manipulation are unfounded.
