‘AI-generated’ Netanyahu video fuels fresh internet speculation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ‘AI-generated’ video sparked an online debate about his whereabouts, once again on Sunday.

Earlier, a screenshot from a video showing him with six fingers had begun such rumours.

In the latest video posted by X handle @netanyahu, he shows five fingers on both hands, with caption reading, They say I ’m what? Watch >>”

However, the internet was quick to point out that the video is likely AI-generated or a deepfake, with Netanyahu’s face imposed on someone else’s.

“Got some serious questions about the validity of this blatantly obvious AI video… Magical pocket… Coffee in the cup defying gravity… Customer with mask behind the counter, Nice Try…..NOTenyahu,” said one comment pointing out the abnormalities in the video.

Another user asked Grok, the AI-chatbot on the platform about the video, to which, the AI replied, “It’s AI-generated. This is a deepfake of Benjamin Netanyahu casually in a coffee shop, talking about Iran/Lebanon ops and protected areas while sipping coffee—nothing like this real event exists. The original post explicitly calls it advanced unreleased AI.”

Before this, another video of the Israeli PM garnered comments where users shared screenshots of him having six fingers, alleging the video to be AI-generated.

Netanyahu on March 8 said in a live broadcast statement that Israel’s attack on Iran will continue with “full force and uncompromising momentum”.

Israel has a well-prepared plan with many surprises to undermine the “Iranian regime” and “enable change”, Netanyahu said on Saturday.

Addressing the Iranian people, he said, “The moment of truth is approaching. We do not seek to divide Iran, but to liberate it and live with it in peace.”

He condemned the United Nations for “condemning us without reason in our just war against Iran’s murderous proxies in Gaza and doing nothing about the massacre in Iran”.

He also demanded that the Lebanese government enforce the ceasefire agreement and disarm Hezbollah, Xinhua news agency reported.

“If you do not do this, Hezbollah’s aggression will have disastrous consequences for Lebanon,” he warned.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said the United States had severely weakened Iran’s military after a week of fighting, while signalling that Washington holds strong negotiating leverage but is not actively pursuing a settlement with Tehran.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One, Trump described the early phase of the conflict as a decisive blow against Iran’s armed forces. The United States and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran on February 28.

“We’ve wiped out their Navy, 44 ships. We’ve wiped out their Air Force. Every plane,” Trump said. He said American strikes had also crippled Iran’s missile capabilities and launch infrastructure.

“We’ve knocked out about 70 % of the rocket launchers,” he said, adding that the systems were “very hard to get, very expensive”.

According to Trump, the reduction in launchers and manufacturing capacity has sharply reduced Iran’s ability to retaliate. “They’re at about 9 % of what they sent out in the first two days,” he said.