A video showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu casually ordering coffee at a cafe has sparked widespread debate online, with some users and AI tools claiming the footage may be AI-generated.
The controversy comes amid speculation about Netanyahu's whereabouts and safety following the ongoing conflict involving Israel, Iran, and regional tensions across the Gulf.
The clip, shared on Netanyahu's official account on X, shows him ordering coffee at The Sataf in the Jerusalem Hills.
In the video, Netanyahu appears to mock rumours circulating on social media about his alleged death. After being told that some media reports claim he is dead, the Israeli leader responds sarcastically, saying, “I am dying for coffee.”
He then gestures with his hands and remarks: “You want to count the number of fingers. You can show us here and here. You saw!”, referring to earlier speculation triggered by a separate clip, in which viewers claimed his hand appeared to show six fingers.
Raising his coffee cup, Netanyahu concludes the clip by saying “L'chaim,” a Hebrew phrase meaning “to life.”
However, the video soon drew scrutiny after Grok, the AI chatbot integrated into X, labelled the clip as AI-generated when responding to a user's query.
“It's AI-generated. This is a deepfake of Benjamin Netanyahu casually in a coffee shop, talking about Iran/Lebanon ops and protected areas while sipping coffee—nothing like this real event exists,” Grok wrote. “The original post explicitly calls it advanced unreleased AI.”
Several social media users echoed similar concerns, pointing to what they described as visual inconsistencies in the footage.
“Got some serious questions about the validity of this blatantly obvious AI video,” one user wrote, citing elements such as a “magical pocket,” “coffee in the cup defying gravity,” and a “customer with a mask behind the counter.”
Another user claimed the shape of Netanyahu's face appeared to change during the clip, adding that it initially looked round before becoming more oval.
Israeli officials, however, have strongly rejected the claims. According to a report by Anadolu Agency, the Prime Minister's Office dismissed the rumours. “These are fake news; the Prime Minister is fine,” Netanyahu's office said.
Meanwhile, the café The Sataf also posted photos on Instagram showing Netanyahu visiting the location. “We were very happy to host the Prime Minister and his office in Sataf today! Know which bakery to visit,” the café wrote alongside the images.
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Separately, ANI reported that Reuven Azar also rejected the deepfake claims, saying: “Prime Minister Netanyahu is alive. I saw him personally when I was in Israel more than once. This video at the cafe is not AI-fabricated. There is a lot of disinformation.”
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