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'Saw Netanyahu personally': India envoy says Israel PM not dead, video not AI
A video was posted on Netanyahu's X account on Monday in which he could be seen holding a cup of coffee and speaking directly at the camera.
Amid growing speculation around Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fate even as he has sought to quell rumours of death, Israeli ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has said that he “saw him personally” more than once during his visit to Israel.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is alive. I saw him personally when I was in Israel more than once,” Azar said, but didn't specify when he visited the country.
He also refuted claims of a clip shared by the Israeli PM on X being fake or AI-generated.
A video was posted on Netanyahu's X account on Sunday (India time) in which he could be seen holding a cup of coffee and speaking directly at the camera. “They say I'm what? Watch,” the caption of the post read.
However, the internet was not convinced and most comments on the post either claimed or wondered if the video was AI-generated.
What further fuelled this speculation was a response by X chatbot Grok, which said that the clip appeared to be AI-generated and that there was no record of such a real-life event.
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However, the Israeli envoy to India rubbished this suggestion during a media interaction in New Delhi on Monday.
“This video at the cafe is not AI-fabricated. There is a lot of disinformation,” the envoy said, blaming Iran and its accomplices.
The Israeli envoy's clarification on the matter follows a reaction by the cafe at which Netanyahu was apparently seen enjoying coffee in the clip he shared. The Jerusalem cafe 'The Sataf' posted images of the Israeli PM. “We were very happy to host the Prime Minister and his office in Sataf today! Know which bakery to visit,” the cafe wrote alongside the photos.
Social media has seen rumours around Benjamin Netanyahu for some days now, amid the escalating Iran-US war during which strikes were also reported in parts of Israel.
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After Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the joint US-Israel strikes a few weeks back, a similar attempt was expected from Iran too. Posts claiming Netanyahu getting killed or seriously injured started surfacing soon after.
The cafe clip shared on the Israeli PM's account was seen as an attempt to quell these rumours.
