A narrative that Netanyahu died spread widely on social media. Here’s how it unfolded

During the second week of the Iran war, social media platforms were rife with claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu died.

The narrative had been surging when Iran’s state-owned news agency reported March 15 that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vowed it would assassinate the Israeli leader if he was still alive.

Rumors of Netanyahu’s death were fueled by both real news and out-of-context videos, fake images and accusations that the Israeli government was using artificial intelligence to deceive the public about Netanyahu’s health and whereabouts. Data from the social media monitoring tool Rolli IQ showed "Netanyahu is dead" appeared 218,580 times March 9-17 across X, BlueSky, Reddit, YouTube, Threads and Facebook.

But there is no credible evidence that Netanyahu is dead. Here are the key events that stoked the false rumors. 

It started with claims that Netanyahu’s brother died

On March 9, people claimed that Iranian missile strikes killed Netanyahu’s brother, Iddo, sharing purported footage of his home on fire. Like claims of Benjamin Netanyahu's death, this one lacks evidence. The Agence France-Presse reported that the videos spreading on social media were unrelated to the Netanyahus, and there have been no legitimate reports of either brother's death.

Snopes reported that the rumor of an Iranian attack on Netanyahu’s home appeared to stem from the Tasnim News Agency, an outlet linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. The agency cited comments former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter made during an interview with a program on the Russian-backed media channel RT.

On the same day, other posts pointed out that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner cancelled their planned March 10 visit to Israel. "Clearly something major going on behind the scenes," one post read.

On March 11, Netanyahu was absent from a military cabinet meeting, fueling more speculation. "Why is Netanyahu absent from the Israeli Defense Minister's meeting?" read a March 11 X post viewed 486,800 times.

On March 13, people latched onto a moment in March 12 Sky News interview with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Mid-interview, someone off camera told Bessent, "The president wants you right away," prompting Bessent to pause his conversation with a reporter. Bessent got up from the interview at 10:22 a.m. and resumed it at 12:07 p.m., timestamps in the Sky News video showed.

Social media accounts described Bessent as "noticeably shaken" when he returned. "Netanyahu is dead," read one post that shared the video, drawing 8.3 million views.

"It’s the first, I’m sure, a last, as well, that an interviewee’s been pulled away to go to the Situation Room," Sky News anchor Wilfred Frost said to Bessent. "How was the president? Was he, was he stressed?"

"No, the president is in great spirits," Bessent replied. "The Iranian mission is proceeding well ahead of schedule." 

People shared fabricated evidence and doubted real videos

A video posted on X March 11 featured text that read, "Netanyahu hit in strike? Netanyahu badly injured." It showed a man resembling the prime minister supine atop a mound of rubble. But there are signs the video was generated using AI: Two workers seemed to meld, and another worker vanished into thin air. 

On March 12, Netanyahu gave his first press briefing since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. Social media users shared a screenshot of his video press conference, zeroing in on a moment in which they said Netanyahu’s hand appeared to have six fingers. They claimed he had died and the video address was AI-generated.

But a closer look reveals claims about the leader’s fingers are unfounded: Netanyahu had five fingers on both hands throughout the speech. 

On March 13, an X account called "The Kremlin" posted an image of what looked like a screenshot of an X post by the official account representing the Israeli prime minister’s office. The screenshot said, "Rumors circulating on social media about PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s status are UNCONFIRMED. We urge citizens to rely on verified updates. Efforts are underway to establish contact."

Other users amplified it.

Credible media outlets weren’t among them. No news organizations reported on the supposed post from Netanyahu’s office and there is only one version of the screenshot, which supposedly got 105,000 views. The official Israeli prime minister’s account did post on X that day, but not about Netanyahu’s "status." The account shared an announcement from the Israeli National Security Council.

On March 15 and 16, Netanyahu also posted two videos on his X account. One showed him at a coffee shop, poking fun at the rumors of his demise and holding up both hands for the camera to show that he has only five fingers on each. The second video showed Netanyahu chatting and posing for pictures with people outside.

Still, some people doubted the authenticity of both videos. They said that Netanyahu’s  movements should have spilled his coffee and they alleged that a computer screen on the shop counter showed the year was 2024. In the other video, skeptics said a ring on Netanyahu’s finger disappeared mid-video.

The coffee shop posted other images of Netanyahu’s visit, supporting its authenticity. We looked at other images of the cafe’s interior and found that it matched what is shown in Netanyahu’s video.

(Screenshot, left, from a September 2025 video posted by Studio 180 designers; screenshot, right, from Netanyahu’s video. The red rectangles show matching beams and the green rectangles show a pair of matching shelves.)

GetReal Security, a deepfake detection company cofounded by University of California, Berkeley professor Hany Farid, analyzed the coffee shop video’s audio and visuals and did not detect any signs that it was generated or manipulated with AI.

V.S. Subrahmanian, a Northwestern University computer science professor, and Marco Postiglione, a postdoctoral researcher who works with Subrahmanian, analyzed the videos and found mixed results. But their analysis showed the date displayed in the shop’s terminal was in 2026, not 2024.

On March 17, Netanyahu posted a video that showed him walking down a hallway with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. 

"Mr. Prime Minister, I wanted you to know the president asked me to come and make sure you were okay," Huckabee said.

"Yes, Mike. Yes, I’m alive," Netanyahu said.

Huckabee said he’s happy to see it. Netanyahu paused and held up his hands.

"We shake hands with five fingers in each hand," he said.