{"id":21860,"date":"2026-03-17T06:38:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T06:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/2026\/03\/17\/did-netanyahu-die-or-live-during-the-iran-war\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T06:38:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T06:38:00","slug":"did-netanyahu-die-or-live-during-the-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/2026\/03\/17\/did-netanyahu-die-or-live-during-the-iran-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Netanyahu die or live during the Iran war?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>\u2018Six fingers\u2019 claim. A ring that disappears. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become the most scrutinized leader on social media in the past week amid allegations of deepfake videos and claims he missed a meeting of Israel&#8217;s security cabinet. Rumors are swirling that Bibi, better known as Netanyahu, has been killed or seriously injured during the conflict in Iran. There has been no live TV speech from Netanyahu since last week, and a video released by Israel to debunk rumors of his death was dissected down to the finest detail. &#8216;Is Bibi dead or alive?&#8217; It was one of X&#8217;s top trends.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"readmoreAction\">Read full article<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-label=\"arrow\" height=\"10\" width=\"12\" class=\"tbl-read-more-button-arrow\" viewbox=\"0 0 8 6\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6.85381 0.203525L3.99181 3.06553L1.12981 0.203525C1.00407 0.0820867 0.835672 0.0148905 0.660874 0.0164095C0.486076 0.0179284 0.318868 0.088041 0.195262 0.211646C0.0716568 0.335252 0.00154415 0.50246 2.52017e-05 0.677258C-0.00149374 0.852056 0.0657025 1.02046 0.187141 1.14619L3.52047 4.47953C3.64549 4.60451 3.81503 4.67472 3.99181 4.67472C4.16858 4.67472 4.33812 4.60451 4.46314 4.47953L7.79647 1.14619C7.86015 1.08469 7.91094 1.01113 7.94588 0.929795C7.98081 0.848459 7.99921 0.760979 7.99997 0.67246C8.00074 0.58394 7.98388 0.496154 7.95036 0.414223C7.91683 0.332292 7.86733 0.257857 7.80474 0.195262C7.74214 0.132667 7.66771 0.083165 7.58578 0.0496444C7.50385 0.0161238 7.41606 -0.00074404 7.32754 2.51711e-05C7.23902 0.000794382 7.15154 0.0191852 7.0702 0.0541246C6.98887 0.0890639 6.91531 0.139852 6.85381 0.203525Z\" fill=\"#fff\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p>The unusual silence about X from Yair Netanyahu, the social media-savvy son of the Israeli prime minister, has only fueled speculation. Yair&#8217;s X account, a &#8216;Twitter addict&#8217; who usually posts about 30 to 35 times a day, has been quiet since March 9th. Moreover, the recent viral video of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suddenly being removed from a live interview to attend a meeting with Trump, and his voice visibly shaking upon his return, only further amplified the rumors.<\/p>\n<h3>Is Netanyahu dead or alive?<\/h3>\n<p>But how did rumors of Netanyahu&#8217;s death begin to spread? The 75-year-old prime minister has stuck to virtual speeches since February 28, when the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Israeli prime minister visited two cities, hospitals and military bases hit by Iranian missile strikes, but had little or no media access. His first press briefing was also held via video link on March 12.<\/p>\n<p>But eagle-eyed social media users noticed something was wrong. One particular frame quickly sparked widespread debate. Netanyahu&#8217;s left hand appears to be distorted in the image, with some users claiming he can see six fingers.<\/p>\n<p>These distortions are now known to be a sure sign that an image is being generated by AI. Generative AI tools are known to have difficulty rendering human hands accurately.<\/p>\n<p>Another widely circulated image from the press conference showed extra flesh near Netanyahu&#8217;s pinky finger, which users called a &quot;classic AI finger glitch.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>However, it is important to note that emergency security restrictions have been in place in Israel since the start of the conflict. Some users and experts have pointed out that the government frequently used AI avatars or synthetic videos of leaders during wartime communications.<\/p>\n<h3>video from coffee shop<\/h3>\n<p>But it did little to quell the rumors. Israel therefore decided to take matters into its own hands. On March 15, Netanyahu posted a video from a cafe in Jerusalem on his official account, mocking rumors of his death by showing both hands with five fingers.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about several media outlets declaring his death, Netanyahu quipped, &quot;I&#8217;m dying for coffee.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"itgimage\"><\/div>\n<p>Instead of quelling the rumors, the video escalated speculation after Grok, a chatbot developed by Elon Musk&#8217;s xAI, claimed the video was &quot;100% a deepfake.&#8221; Grok also said there were no records of such \u201cactual incidents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some users also said that the coffee cup Netanyahu is holding appears to be tilted in a way that defies gravity.<\/p>\n<p>I needed a counter. These words came from a Jerusalem cafe that Netanyahu visited. Sataf soon posted a high-resolution image to Instagram showing the Israeli prime minister enjoying coffee during his visit.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We were very pleased to have the Prime Minister&#8217;s Office in Sattaf today. Know which bakery to visit,&#8221; the cafe posted.<\/p>\n<p>A quick analysis showed that the location in the video posted by Netanyahu matched the interior of the cafe.<\/p>\n<h3>New video doesn&#8217;t stop AI claims<\/h3>\n<p>But Netanyahu is not done. The next day, a new video was posted showing him casually walking through the streets of Jerusalem and interacting with civilians.<\/p>\n<p>Here too, the internet wasn&#8217;t convinced. Several users pointed out that the ring on his finger appears to disappear when he moves his arm in the video.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy does Netanyahu\u2019s ring disappear when he moves his arm? Is this also AI??\u201d one tweeted.<\/p>\n<p>British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan also joined in. &quot;I don&#8217;t want to be a conspiracy theorist. I swear I have resisted every &#8216;Netanyahu is dead&#8217; statement, but this seems so fake,&#8221; Hassan said on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, another video was posted from the Israeli Prime Minister&#8217;s X account. Prime Minister Netanyahu sent greetings to Iranians on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, through a video message.<\/p>\n<p>It did little to dispel the speculation. Popular TikToker Mark Levin claimed on X that the video&#8217;s captions were strategically placed to hide distortions in Netanyahu&#8217;s hand movements. He also claimed that the voice appears to have been generated by AI.<\/p>\n<figure role=\"group\" class=\"caption caption-img\">\n<div class=\"itgimage\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"1066\" title=\"\" width=\"1600\" class=\"\" alt=\"netanyahu\" src=\"https:\/\/akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com\/indiatoday\/inline-images\/WhatsApp%20Image%202026-03-17%20at%203.13.24%20PM.jpeg?VersionId=0U8uUmReyhlvHNMzho.SJBO1XQxSxfhW&#038;size=750:*\"><\/div><figcaption>Photo of Netanyahu released by Israel on Tuesday<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, new images were also posted showing Netanyahu ordering the removal of senior Iranian officials. On this day, Israel claimed that its airstrikes killed Iranian security chief Ali Larijani and Supreme Commander Gholamreza Soleimani.<\/p>\n<p>However, Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar dismissed the rumors about Netanyahu, saying, \u201cThe prime minister is alive,\u201d and began military discussions and strategies.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these assurances, social media debate about Netanyahu&#8217;s health and whereabouts spread like wildfire. But it is important to note that Netanyahu, Israel&#8217;s longest-serving prime minister since independence, has developed a reputation as a cunning political survivor. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; end<\/p>\n<div class=\"authors__container\">\n<div class=\"authors__by\">\n<p>Posted by: <\/p>\n<p>Abishek De<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"published__on\">\n<p>Posted on: <\/p>\n<p>March 17, 2026 12:08 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>tune the frequency<\/p>\n<p><iframe scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"648\" height=\"365\" src=\"https:\/\/podcasts.indiatoday.in\/news\/nothing-but-the-truth\/1355878\" class=\"podcast-multy-video-iframe\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Six fingers\u2019 claim. A ring that disappears. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become the most scrutinized leader on social media in the past week amid allegations of deepfake videos and claims he missed a meeting of Israel&#8217;s security cabinet. Rumors are swirling that Bibi, better known as Netanyahu, has been killed or seriously injured during [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[18531,52682,49780,52678,50604,47817,52677,52679,52680,49957,52681],"class_list":["post-21860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-benjamin-netanyahu-dies","tag-iran-war","tag-is-netanyahu-dead-or-alive","tag-israel-iran-war","tag-netanyahu","tag-netanyahu-dies","tag-netanyahu-news","tag-netanyahu-video","tag-us-iran-war","tag-where-is-netanyahu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}