Israel Without Netanyahu: Is He Dead or Alive?
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo.
In recent days, online rumors have persisted since last Saturday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was killed in an Iranian missile attack, along with several senior Israeli officials and military personnel.
Indirect evidence supports this news, including Netanyahu's absence from public appearances and not being seen on television — over the past two days, the Israeli Security Cabinet held two public meetings, both chaired by Defense Minister Israel Katz. Netanyahu's personal and government social media accounts have stopped updating, as well as his son Yair Netanyahu's account.
Recently, two private representatives of Donald Trump — Stephen Whitcombe and Jared Kushner — canceled their planned trip to Israel to meet Netanyahu. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was suddenly called to the Oval Office during a recent interview at the White House, and upon returning, he appeared extremely depressed, stammered, spoke incoherently, and trembled physically. Some American commentators claim that during the meeting in the Oval Office, Trump informed him of Netanyahu's death, which he had dragged the United States into the war against Iran.
The news office of Netanyahu has released a third video of him, and many people have found these videos to have artificial intelligence synthesis traces and obvious flaws, such as the appearance of six fingers on his hands, the liquid level of the coffee cup remains unchanged and does not spill out. In the videos, Netanyahu appears in places such as a café and a scenic spot, which are completely inconsistent with his previous image, while his previous videos were all taken from press conferences or military meetings.
At the same time, Netanyahu and his family have completely disappeared from the public eye (according to Jewish customs, relatives of believers must mourn for seven days and stay indoors, which may be happening). Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Mossad Director David Barnea, Military Intelligence Director Shlomi Ben-David, Shin Bet Director David Efrati, and Air Force Commander Tomer Bar also disappeared, leading to widespread speculation that they have also died together.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office News Office has made no official statement on this so far.
If it is assumed that an Iranian missile hit the residence of the Israeli prime minister and killed him, and this fact is disclosed, Israel and the United States would face serious crises.
In the United States, Netanyahu is generally regarded as a war instigator, and it was he who dragged the United States into this unnecessary war against Iran. If there is a private agreement between Trump and Netanyahu (for example, Netanyahu threatened Trump with releasing Epstein-related documents), then after Netanyahu's death, all these agreements will become invalid.
If Netanyahu dies in Israel, the situation will be extremely chaotic. Throughout Israeli history, there have been several cases where sitting prime ministers died, and according to procedure, the cabinet needs to select an interim prime minister until the parliament forms a new governing coalition and establishes a new government.
However, unlike before, Netanyahu's wife Sara Netanyahu has always controlled him behind the scenes during his years in power, and through him, she has controlled the country. All members of the Israeli government and vice premiers are actually appointed by Sara Netanyahu, and their careers depend on her alone. Once Netanyahu dies and someone else becomes the interim prime minister, Sara will lose all control over Israel's state and politics, which she absolutely does not want to see. Perhaps it is precisely to delay the announcement of the death, that these suspicious AI-generated videos were fabricated.
If Netanyahu indeed died, and the above officials and military personnel died together and were disclosed, it would bring significant image losses to Israel, expose its vulnerability to Iran and its allies, and trigger serious domestic political consequences: public trust in the authorities collapses, panic spreads, anti-war sentiment rises, power struggles erupt, the government falls, early elections occur, and even the possibility of defeat in the war against Iran.
No matter what, the trick of "reviving" Netanyahu with AI videos cannot last long. Ultimately, the Israeli government and the family must either publicly announce the death, or have Netanyahu appear in public settings with witnesses, such as parliamentary sessions and government meetings, rather than appearing in AI-generated footage.
This issue must have a clear outcome soon — in wartime, the Israeli authorities and the Netanyahu family cannot maintain this political uncertainty for a long time.
Original: toutiao.com/article/7618099715250471466/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author alone.