Fact Check: Is the video of Benjamin Netanyahu with six fingers AI-generated?
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL: Amid the conflict in the Middle East, a claim began circulating online that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been killed in an Iranian airstrike. The claim surfaced following Netanyahu’s latest video, which netizens claim is AI-generated as it allegedly shows him with six fingers. Let us fact-check the viral claim.
Claim: Video shows Benjamin Netanyahu with six fingers
On March 13, images and videos of Netanyahu delivering a speech on war with Iran were widely shared, with users claiming there were six fingers on his right hand, a potential sign that the clip was generated using AI.
The claim has sparked speculations that Netanyahu might have died during an Iranian missile attack, and Israeli officials used AI to hide the truth.
The claim has spread on multiple social media platforms, including X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Bluesky, and Threads, garnering hundreds of thousands of views.
Fact Check: The video is authentic and is not AI-generated
The rumor, however, is false, as the clip does not show an AI-generated version of Netanyahu with six fingers on his right hand.
A closer look at the video released by the Israeli Government Press Office shows five fingers on each hand. Users visually mistook his hand's hypothenar eminence, the name for the bulge at the base of a human little finger, for a sixth finger.
The video was even scanned using AI and Deepfake detection tools and found a 0.1% likelihood that it was AI-generated.
Various reports about the death of the Israeli Prime Minister have circulated ever since the beginning of the conflict in the Middle East, but there is no credible evidence to suggest that Netanyahu is dead.
Benjamin Netanyahu praises alliance with Donald Trump amid Iran war
Netanyahu is leaning heavily on his alliance with President Donald Trump as Israel continues its joint military campaign with the United States against Iran.
Speaking at his first press conference since the war began, Netanyahu praised the unusually close coordination between Jerusalem and Washington. He described the partnership with Trump as unprecedented.
“We have created an alliance unlike any before with the United States – an alliance with our great friend, my personal friend, President Trump. We speak almost every day. We speak freely, exchange ideas and advice, and make decisions together,” Netanyahu said.
The Israeli leader revealed that he had spoken with Trump again shortly before the briefing and recounted what he said was the President’s view of their partnership.
According to Netanyahu, Trump told him that their “relationship is one hundred times stronger than any relationship that has existed between an American president and an Israeli prime minister. We are not thinking only about our countries, or only about this generation. We are thinking about future generations – about the future of humanity."
