Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video statement on Sunday, showing that he is indeed very much alive amid the bizarre death rumors doing rounds on social media.
The Israeli PM appeared to mock online speculation regarding his death by sharing a video of himself purchasing a beverage at a coffee shop, humorously noting that it was risky due to the calorie content.
Speculation regarding the assassination of Netanyahu started to spread on the internet late last week, as some users believed they saw him with six fingers while addressing a press conference. However, it was later learned that it was a digitally manipulated video.
‘Do you want to count my fingers?’ Netanyahu asks amid death rumors
In the video shared on Sunday, it was evident that the Israeli PM had five fingers on each hand. Additionally, he engaged in casual conversation in the coffee shop concerning the conflict in Iran.
“We are doing things that I cannot share at this moment, but we are doing things,” Netanyahu stated, according to a Google translation of his conversation in Hebrew. “We are hitting Iran very hard, even on this day, and in Lebanon, we are continuing.”
“Thank you for the coffee. It is excellent. I don’t know about the calories. It seems very dangerous to me,” he quipped. The video has already received over 3.4 million views over 9.5K comments.
“Do you want to count my fingers? You can see them here… and here. See? Very nice,” Netanyahu added.
Netanyahu’s message for Israelis
Amid the ongoing war against Iran, Netanyahu told Israeli citizens, “Go out and get some fresh air, but stay near a protected space. Your resilience is amazing; it gives strength to me, to the government, to the IDF, and to the Mossad. We are doing things that I cannot… at this moment, but we are hitting Iran very hard, even today. Are you telling me to keep going? I tell all of you: you keep going too.”
“Continue to listen to Home Front Command instructions at all times—listen to Home Front Command and also to city mayors—to always be near a protected space. We will ease restrictions as much as possible.”
Iran vows to kill Netanyahu
Earlier, on Sunday, Iran declared its intention to “pursue and kill” Netanyahu.
“If this child-killing criminal is alive, we will continue to pursue and kill him with full force,” stated Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in a statement.
This comes as the war between Israel and Iran has entered its 16th day. The conflict escalated after the United States and Israel carried out joint strikes on Iran last month. The attacks killed Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and triggered a wider conflict across the Middle East.
In response, Iran launched attacks on Israel and on US military bases located in Gulf countries, while Israel and the United States have continued striking Iranian targets.
According to the Pentagon, the US and Israeli forces have struck more than 15,000 targets across Iran since the conflict began.
