A photo shared on X allegedly shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after being hospitalized from COVID-19. 

Urgent Update: Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu is reportedly in a grave condition after contracting a severe mutated strain of the coronavirus. The situation is said to be critically serious. #NetanyahuCovid #IsraelHealthCrisis pic.twitter.com/qx35KC6Gn4

— SilencedSirs◼️ (@SilentlySirs) March 3, 2024

Verdict: False

The photo is digitally altered. The original shows a woman in the bed, not Netanyahu.

Fact Check:

Speculation has spread regarding Netanyahu’s health, to which the Prime Minister’s Office has insisted he is merely suffering from a “seasonal flu,” according to the Times of Israel. Benny Gantz, member of Israel’s War Cabinet and former military chief of staff, will be visiting Washington soon, according to AP News.

An X post claims Netanyahu is suffering from a severe case of COVID-19. The photo appears to show Netanyahu lying in a hospital bed, wearing a mask. It also appears to show his wife, Sara, leaning over the bed and touching his arm. 

“Urgent Update: Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu is reportedly in a grave condition after contracting a severe mutated strain of the coronavirus,” the post reads. “The situation is said to be critically serious.”

The image is digitally altered, however. The original was posted to Facebook in 2015 by Netanyahu and instead shows a woman in the bed. “My wife Sarah visited today at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital Adel Bennett and her son Nathan, who were injured in the terror attack that happened in Jerusalem last Saturday night,” the post reads in part once translated. (RELATED: Video Of Benjamin Netanyahu Refusing Mic From Arab Official Lacks Context)

Check Your Fact has reached out to a Netanyahu spokesperson for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.