Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video of himself on Sunday having a cup of coffee and chatting with his aide, after rumors that he was dead or injured were broadcast by Iranian state media and spread online in Iran.
In the video, taken at a cafe on the outskirts of occupied Jerusalem and posted on Netanyahu’s Telegram account, his aide questions him about the rumours.
Netanyahu responds with a pun on the word death – which in Hebrew slang can be used to describe “being crazy about” someone or something – as he reaches for a cup of coffee.
“I love coffee. You know what? I love my people,” Netanyahu tells the aide.
He then raised his hands to the camera and asked, “Do you want to count the number of fingers?” – a reference to speculation on social media that his latest TV address was generated by AI when he appeared to have six fingers on one hand.
Reuters confirmed the location of the video from file photos of the cafe, which matched the interior of the video. The date was confirmed from several videos and photos of Netanyahu’s visit posted by the cafe on Sunday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to kill Netanyahu on Sunday as the war against the Islamic Republic led by Israel and the United States entered its third week.
“The IRGC vows to pursue and kill the ‘child killer’ Netanyahu if he is still alive,” Iran’s IRNA news agency said in a post on X.
Since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, Netanyahu has visited at least two cities hit by Iranian missiles, a hospital, port and military bases, but there was little or no media access and videos were distributed by his office.
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 with Iran.
Emergency security restrictions in Israel since the start of the war ban public gatherings and have kept most people at home or close to shelters and safe rooms, with schools closed across most of the country.
— With additional input from AFP
