Is the Prime Minister of Israel really dead? Here’s what we found
The Iran-Israeli conflict has been decades in the making. Following the Nakba and the displacement of Palestinians, the region was plunged into turmoil, with several wars fought and illegal annexations carried out. This created the conditions for an uncertain world and the hostilities we’re witnessing today.
During conflict, verifying evidence is extremely difficult, especially in the post-truth era. Recently, videos and chatter circulating on the internet have intensified, asserting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dead — but is he really? Now, the issue with verifying such claims is that journalists can, most of the time, only rely on the official sources, and in this case, that means the Tel Aviv administration.
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Admitting that your leader is dead during a period of war with its biggest adversary, Iran, will obviously be a significant victory for Tehran. So where did this news come from, and why won’t it go away? Let’s examine the truth of the matter.
‘Wing of Zion’: Where It Started
Following regional hostilities with Iran, Israel’s Air Force One-equivalent aircraft, the ‘Wing of Zion’, took flight between February 28th and March 1st, seemingly en route to Germany. The plane took off from Israel, circled over the Mediterranean in what’s known as a “stack” for four hours, before heading toward Berlin, Germany.
The crew aboard the government aircraft is mostly classified, which leads to further hearsay. Following this itinerary, Netanyahu disappeared from public view, and that’s when rumours started circulating, and the world began to ask: Where is the Prime Minister?
The First Rumour
Unverified posts on both X and TikTok began to spread that Netanyahu had been killed in a missile strike and secretly evacuated, yet visual proof remained elusive. That is, until the 3rd March, when a flurry of very obvious AI-generated photos of the Israeli leader appeared on social media, covered in rubble and injured, and interest in the story began to spike.
Coffee and a Six-Fingered Speech
Following assertions that he had been wounded or killed in a missile strike, between the 9th and 13th March, a speech by the Prime Minister in a controlled environment was published. Internet users took note, saying ‘he has six fingers’, and another video was posted to the Head of State’s own social media accounts of him engaging with members of the public as he orders a coffee. Viewers noticed his ring disappear and that the entire setting seemed “off”.
Following this, counterclaims argue that the clips were deepfake videos, that body doubles are being used, or that the media is uninterested and therefore covering up his death. The momentum of the rumours becomes unstoppable, rendering them essentially unprovable despite an independent video analysis of said visuals.
What’s the Truth?
Well, you can’t say he is or isn’t dead. To verify that he is, in fact, deceased, one would need forensic confirmation, such as blood samples from both him and his relatives. What we have right now is a set of circumstances that support both sides, and unless Benjamin Netanyahu makes a public appearance in a foreign country, such as the United States, alongside President Donald Trump, this discourse will continue.
While the videos published by the official Israeli government are odd — like disappearing rings, the persistent use of portrait mode, and background items failing to record on one subject’s phone, there could be perfectly logical explanations for each of these phenomena, or there might not be anything to draw on at all. Or, it could be a tactic of their own to make commentators look untrustworthy. Who knows!
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