In the video, taken at a cafe in Jerusalem’s outskirts and posted on Netanyahu’s Telegram account, ​his aide asks him about the rumours.

Netanyahu responds with a ​pun on the word dead — which in Hebrew slang ⁠can be used to describe “being crazy about” someone or something — as ​he reaches for a cup of coffee.

“I’m crazy about coffee. You know ​what? I’m crazy about my people,” Netanyahu tells the aide.

Reuters verified the video’s location from file imagery of the cafe, which matched the interiors seen in ​the video.

The date was verified from multiple videos and photos ​of Netanyahu’s visit posted by the cafe on Sunday.

Since the US and Israel launched ‌attacks ⁠on Iran on February 28, Netanyahu has visited at least two towns hit by Iranian missiles, a hospital, a port and military bases, but there was little to no media access, and videos were distributed ​by his office.

Netanyahu, ​who rarely gives ⁠interviews to the Israeli press or holds news conferences, convened his first press conference since the start of the war ​via a video link on Thursday, a similar format ​to the ⁠one he used in June during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran.

Emergency safety restrictions in Israel since the start of the war ban public ⁠gatherings and ​have kept most people at home ​or close to shelters and safe rooms, with schools shut across most of the country.