{"id":91937,"date":"2026-03-16T01:50:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T06:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/?p=91937"},"modified":"2026-03-17T04:51:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T09:51:04","slug":"is-netanyahu-dead-has-tel-aviv-been-flattened-ai-videos-are-dominating-the-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/is-netanyahu-dead-has-tel-aviv-been-flattened-ai-videos-are-dominating-the-iran-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Netanyahu dead? Has Tel Aviv been flattened? AI videos are dominating the Iran war."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By DEBORAH DANAN and GRACE GILSON<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted an unusual video this week: of himself buying coffee at a Jerusalem-area cafe.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_91938\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-design-copy.avif\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91938\" class=\"wp-image-91938\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-design-copy.avif\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-91938\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An AI-generated video falsely depicting missiles striking Tel Aviv alongside footage of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showing his hand to rebut online claims that he had died. (GPO\/X)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>It was hardly typical fare for wartime, when Netanyahu can more often be seen giving recorded addresses or touring missile damage within Israel. But the prime minister had come with an important mission: to debunk viral claims of his death.<\/p>\n<p>The claims, which originated on Iranian state media last week, were picked up by social media users on Thursday after Netanyahu gave his first press conference during the war.<\/p>\n<p>Zooming in on details in the seemingly innocuous address, some claimed that Netanyahu had an extra finger on his right hand and missing teeth, signs they said were key tells of AI-generated content.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cImagine Netanyahu was actually dead this entire past week,\u201d the pro-Palestinian TikTok influencer Guy Christensen wrote in a post on X. \u201cIt\u2019s too good to be true but Israel has been using AI generated videos of Netanyahu ever since. One can only hope.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From the cafe Sataf, Netanyahu issued his response to the conspiracy, posting a video on Sunday of him ordering a coffee, chatting with baristas and telling Israelis that the wars against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon were going well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey say I\u2019m what?\u201d the caption read. Mocking the idea that he had been killed, he joked, \u201cI\u2019m dying for coffee!\u201d Then, alluding to the speculation about the earlier video, he asks, \u201cDo you want to count the number of fingers?\u201d before holding up each hand with his fingers outstretched.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">JUST IN: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shares proof that he is alive after online users started speculating that he was dead. <\/p>\n<p>Netanyahu also showed off how many fingers he has.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We&#39;re doing things I can&#39;t share right now, but we&#39;re striking hard in Iran today and\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5tyD5HImCG\">pic.twitter.com\/5tyD5HImCG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CollinRugg\/status\/2033202172431897010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 15, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>But rather than quelling the claims of his death, the Israeli leader\u2019s response instead spurred more speculation, with users on social media calling into question details in the video including the physics of his coffee cup. In another video posted by Netanyahu on Monday, some social media users pointed to a clip where a ring seemingly disappears from his hand in one of the frames.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cISRAEL: \u2018Benjamin Netanyahu is still alive. Here\u2019s another AI video of him as proof. Just trust me, goy,\u2019 the antisemitic podcaster Stew Peters wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n<p>The churn of conspiratorial claims about the Israeli leader\u2019s death, which also included an AI-generated image of him being pulled from rubble, highlights the growing challenge of combating misinformation in an era of artificial intelligence and viral deepfakes, especially during times of conflict.<\/p>\n<p>The war with Iran has produced an absolute flood of fabricated imagery, from AI-generated clips circulated by pro-Iran accounts purporting to show missile strikes flattening Tel Aviv or the capture of American troops by Iranian forces. The Israeli disinformation detection company Cyabra said it identified networks containing tens of thousands of accounts that generated material garnering 145 million views in the first two weeks of the war \u2014&nbsp;almost all pro-Iranian, and mostly on TikTok. (The company said during the last Israel-Iran war, in June 2025, that Iran\u2019s internet outage had quelled disinformation bot farms located there.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe campaign did not spread organically. Clear coordination patterns were identified, including repeated narratives, identical videos and captions, fixed hashtag clusters, and synchronized burst posting,\u201d Cyabra said in its report published Friday. \u201cThese tactics allowed the network to rapidly flood the information environment and dominate online discussions during key moments of the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The videos have left some of Israel\u2019s critics confident that the country has been battered far beyond what has been officially reported.<\/p>\n<p>But even Israeli television has not been immune, airing its own misinformation too \u2014 albeit unwittingly.<\/p>\n<p>Channel 12 News last week aired a night-vision clip that it said showed American B-2 stealth bombers over Iran flying in formation with F-18 fighter jets.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"iw\" dir=\"rtl\">\u05e0\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d3\u05d1\u05d5\u05e8\u05d9 \u05d4\u05e6\u05d9\u05d2 \u05e1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05df \u05e9\u05dc &quot;\u05de\u05e4\u05e6\u05d9\u05e6\u05d9 B2 \u05d1\u05e9\u05de\u05d9 \u05d0\u05d9\u05e8\u05d0\u05df&quot;<\/p>\n<p>\u05d4\u05e2\u05d5\u05d1\u05d3\u05d5\u05ea: \u05de\u05d3\u05d5\u05d1\u05e8 \u05d1\u05e1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05df \u05e9\u05dc\u05e7\u05d5\u05d7 \u05de\u05ea\u05d5\u05da \u05de\u05e9\u05d7\u05e7 \u05de\u05d7\u05e9\u05d1.<br \/>\u05d1\u05e9\u05e8\u05e9\u05d5\u05e8: \u05d4\u05e1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05df \u05d4\u05de\u05e7\u05d5\u05e8\u05d9 \u05e9\u05e4\u05d5\u05e8\u05e1\u05dd \u05d1\u05de\u05e8\u05e5 2023 \u05d1\u05d9\u05d5\u05d8\u05d9\u05d5\u05d1.<\/p>\n<p>\u05e7\u05e8\u05d3\u05d9\u05d8: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ItayBlumental?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ItayBlumental<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/manniefabian?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@manniefabian<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zJCugreDZM\">pic.twitter.com\/zJCugreDZM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; \u05d1\u05d5\u05d3\u05e7\u05d9\u05dd (@bodkim2022) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bodkim2022\/status\/2030677985238389199?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Within hours, the clip was identified not as a Pentagon release, as Channel 12 military correspondent Nir Dvori had suggested on air, but as footage from the combat flight simulator Digital Combat Simulator World. Itay Blumental, Dvori\u2019s counterpart at rival public broadcaster Kan, wrote on X that the footage was \u201cindeed incredible, but also lifted from a video game,\u201d sharing the same YouTube clip from March 2023.<\/p>\n<p>During Monday evening\u2019s broadcast, Dvori apologized and said the mistake was \u201centirely mine,\u201d but did not specify which footage he was referring to, leaving viewers who had missed the earlier segment with little indication of what had gone wrong. The news network also issued an apology, saying it would \u201cexamine its procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The right-wing Channel 14 also aired the clip \u2014 more than once.<\/p>\n<p>i24 News made a similar mistake, the Haaretz newspaper reported, airing a video it treated as apparent footage of an American strike on Iran, though the clip was also from Digital Combat Simulator World.<\/p>\n<p>The segments quickly became internet fodder, with social media users lampooning the news networks and posting their own tongue-in-cheek \u201cexclusive war footage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Omer Babai, who runs Kan\u2019s social media, posted a GIF on X of shoot \u2019em up video game Chicken Invaders, saying it showed \u201cAmerican bombers in Iranian skies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another X user quipped: \u201cNir Dvori: Iran scattered mines across the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d alongside a screenshot of vintage PC game Minesweeper.<\/p>\n<p>A third posted an image of fellow 1990s gaming staple \u201cDigger,\u201d with the caption: \u201cExclusive footage of Sinwar in the tunnels of Gaza,\u201d referencing the Hamas chief killed by the IDF. Street Fighter and Pac-Man made cameo appearances too.<\/p>\n<p>Channel 14, widely seen as sympathetic towards Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is no stranger to broadcasting dubious footage. Earlier in the war, the channel aired a video it said showed crowds in Tehran appearing to express support for the Israeli premier with chants of \u201cBibi joon\u201d \u2014 a Persian term of affection translated roughly as \u201cdear Bibi.\u201d But the online Israeli fact-checker FakeReporter later said the chant had been generated with artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n<p>But the B2 gaffes are one side of a much wider phenomenon.<\/p>\n<p>One viral clip, shared across X, TikTok and other platforms, appeared to show missiles pounding Tel Aviv and apartment blocks collapsing under a barrage. AFP and several other outlets found it had been generated using AI, citing telltale distortions in cars, rooftops, smoke trails and even the placement of an Israeli flag sans pole. The Grok AI chatbot on X, however, helped amplify the video, with repeated assurances that \u201cthe video is real,\u201d AFP reported.<\/p>\n<p>After the video was exposed as AI-generated, an X account under the name Abdulruhman Ismail, one of the first to share the footage in a post that drew 4 million views, said he would leave it up \u201cbecause the scene reflects, painfully, what Gaza has endured under Israeli bombardment.\u201d He added, \u201cI am keeping this post for transparency. The video may not be real, but the devastation it evokes is real, and it mirrors what Palestinians have lived through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the June 2025 war, pro-Iran accounts similarly circulated fake videos and images claiming to show strikes devastating Tel Aviv as well as Iranian forces downing Israeli F-35s.<\/p>\n<p>Australian wire AAP debunked several fakes from this round of conflict, including a video claiming that an Iranian strike set a CIA facility in Dubai ablaze, as well as a fabricated image purporting to show late Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dead under a pile of rubble.<\/p>\n<p>A separate fabricated clip that racked up tens of millions of views purported to show the Burj Khalifa engulfed in flames as crowds rushed in its direction.<\/p>\n<p>The Tehran Times also shared false images and false reports of extensive damage to the US Navy\u2019s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain.<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s embassy in Austria posted an AI image of a child\u2019s backpack, claiming it was taken at the Minab school in Iran that was hit on the first day of the war.<\/p>\n<p>Tasnim, the Iranian state-affiliated news agency, shared an AI-generated image on X purporting to show an American radar installation in Qatar destroyed in an Iranian strike, The New York Times reported. The paper said Iran\u2019s propaganda \u201cappears focused more on swaying international audiences,\u201d portraying the \u201csuccess of Tehran\u2019s counteroffensive in effusive terms.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_91939\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AI_fakes.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91939\" class=\"wp-image-91939 size-large lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AI_fakes-1024x632.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"632\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AI_fakes-1024x632.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AI_fakes-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AI_fakes-768x474.png 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AI_fakes.png 1425w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/632;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91939\" class=\"wp-image-91939 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AI_fakes-1024x632.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"632\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AI_fakes-1024x632.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AI_fakes-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AI_fakes-768x474.png 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AI_fakes.png 1425w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-91939\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">AI-generated fake screenshots from X.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>But X\u2019s head of product told the BBC that 99% of the accounts spreading AI-generated war videos were trying to \u201cgame monetization,\u201d posting sensational content to rack up engagement and qualify for payments through the platform\u2019s creator revenue program. The social media giant announced that it will temporarily suspend creators from the program if they post AI-generated videos of armed conflict without disclosing that they were fake.<\/p>\n<p>British politician George Galloway posted a video last week containing AI imagery in which he narrates that the \u201capocalypse is burning Tel Aviv,\u201d that the city \u201cnow looks like Gaza,\u201d and that air defenses over Tel Aviv are \u201cno longer operational.\u201d He says his information came from friends on \u201cSheinkin Street, Tel Aviv, near Dizengoff Square.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Former Israeli spokesman Eylon Levy seized on the canard, posting reaction videos of sun-soaked beach scenes and one of himself at Dizengoff Square, casually sipping an iced coffee with the very much intact plaza behind him.<\/p>\n<p>Some people responded to the video by cheering Levy on, saying that they, too, were enjoying a beautiful day in a mostly intact Tel Aviv. But others resisted the evidence in front of them. \u201cCheap Jew propaganda,\u201d one commenter wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s basically flattened out.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Is%20Netanyahu%20dead%3F%20Has%20Tel%20Aviv%20been%20flattened%3F%20AI%20videos%20are%20dominating%20the%20Iran%20war.\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":91938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[12348,9791,378,8790,8795,8788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91937"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91937"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91940,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91937\/revisions\/91940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}