Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video of himself having a cup of coffee and chatting with his assistant on Sunday, after rumors that he was dead or injured were spread online in Iran by Iranian state media.
In the video, taken in a cafe on the outskirts of occupied Jerusalem and posted on Netanyahu’s Telegram account, his assistant asks him about the rumors.
Netanyahu responds with a pun on the word dead, which in Hebrew slang can be used to describe “being crazy about” someone or something, over a cup of coffee.
“I’m crazy about coffee. You know what? I’m crazy about my people,” Netanyahu tells the assistant.
He then raised his hands toward the camera and asked, “Do you want to count the number of fingers?” – a reference to speculation on social media that his last televised speech was generated by AI, as he appeared to have six fingers on one hand.
Reuters verified the location of the video from archival footage of the cafe, which matched the interiors seen in the video. The date was verified from multiple videos and photographs of Netanyahu’s visit posted at the cafe on Sunday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to kill Netanyahu on Sunday, as the war against the Israeli-US-led Islamic republic entered its third week.
“IRGC vows to hunt down and kill ‘child killer’ Netanyahu if he is still alive,” Iranian news agency IRNA said in a post on X.
Since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, Netanyahu has visited at least two cities hit by Iranian missiles, a hospital, a port and military bases, but there was little or no media access, and his office distributed videos.
Netanyahu, who rarely gives interviews to the Israeli press or holds news conferences, on Thursday called his first news conference since the start of the war via video link, a format similar to the one he used in June during Israel’s 12-day war against Iran.
Emergency security restrictions in Israel since the start of the war prohibit public gatherings and have kept most people at home or near shelters and safe rooms, with schools closed in most of the country.
— With additional information from AFP
