Israel’s Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, firmly rubbished viral conspiracy theories that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was dead. Responding to rumours amplified by Iranian media and netizens online as the US and Israel continue waging a war on Iran, he confirmed that the country’s leader was “very much alive.”

Azar went the extra mile and affirmed that the recent footage of him sipping coffee at a Jerusalem cafe was also authentic and not AI-generated, as opposed to what many have been speculating since Sunday.

Israel ambassador to India says Netanyahu’s cafe video is real

During a press conference on Monday, the Ambassador of Israel to India asserted, “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.” He even went on to accuse the “Iranian side” and other “accomplices” of fuelling the rumours that held no ground.

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At the same public event, the ambassador pulled back from committing to a timeline for a possible end to the conflict that commenced in late February with the US and Israel launching their campaigns codenamed ‘Operation Epic Fury’ and ‘Operation Roaring Lion,’ respectively, against Tehran. Iran, for its part, subsequently jumped into retaliatory action by targeting neighbouring West Asian countries sharing close ties with the US, including the UAE and Qatar.

“We are not specifying exactly how long it will take because it depends on many factors,” Azar said at the conference. “At the outset, both US and Israel talked about a few weeks. It also depends on the opportunity Iran has to change course. Right now, it doesn’t seem that they are changing course.”

“On the contrary, they are doubling down. They are digging in,” he continued. “But the situation can change in the future. We are hearing different rumours about differences withing the Iranian decision-making process. So, this can take more time… We can have a diplomatic way out of this if the Iranians decide that they want to cooperate with the international community.”

What is this viral conspiracy about? Netanyahu’s cafe video explained

Azar’s comment not only put to bed the massive wave of online reports speculating that Netanyahu was dead, but also addressed a buzz-grabbing video the Israeli PM had posted on Instagram. On Sunday, Netanyahu personally responded to rumours and chatter surrounding his “death” by sharing a clip of himself sipping a cup of joe at The Sataf – Jerusalem with his aides.

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The clip showed the Israeli PM seemingly joking about the “death” rumours with an aide, as he responded with a pun on the word “dead,” which in Hebrew slang suggests “being crazy about” someone or something, according to Reuters.

As he’s seen reaching out for his coffee cup at The Sataf in Jerusalem, he says, “I’m crazy about coffee. You know what? I’m crazy about my people.” Some translations even highlighted his play on words, saying that he was “dying for coffee.”

However, even that video “proof” wasn’t enough to convince netizens, as eagle-eyed online sleuths picked the clip apart, trying to justify that it had been AI-generated.

Even the actual cafe involved in the mix played its part in supporting Netanyahu’s side of the story by posting multiple pictures of his coffee run on its own Instagram profile. As the “Coffeegate” slipped out of hand, the Sataf’s photos only further incited netizens to raise baseless and unverified claims that the video may have its origins tied to 2024 and altered to fit into the new developments.