Claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had headed off to Greece began to do the rounds amid tensions between Israel and Iran. Israel, along with the US, mounted an offensive on Iran today, including bombing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei‘s compound in Tehran.
After this, Netanyahu claimed there was good evidence to suggest Khamenei was dead. President Donald Trump, after this, announced Khamenei’s death on Truth Social. However, Tehran has countered these accounts.
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While Khamenei’s current status is not known, several social media profiles alleged that Netanyahu had left the country.
One person on X remarked “fled to Greece.” Another commented “Netanyahu’s plane, Wing of Zion, has now left and is flying over Greece, after circling for almost 4 hours off the coast of Israel.”
Yet another said “Your fearless leader Netanyahu is such a man he fled to Greece…”.
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Netanyahu in Germany? Fact check
Despite social media claims, it does not appear that Netanyahu is in Greece. To be sure, these claims were made by unverified profiles, though they did track flight data.
Netanyahu’s plane, Wing of Zion, is officially registered as 4X-ISR. It is a Boeing 767-338ER used by the Israeli PM. As per FlightRadar data, the plane departed from Beersheba and landed in Berlin on February 28.
However, there’s no official visit from Netanyahu scheduled in Berlin. It is not known if the Israeli PM was onboard the flight as it landed in Berlin. However, the new data led to fresh claims being made online.
“Netanyahu fled to Berlin!,” a person said. Another added “Berlin should be universally condemned for taking in Netanyahu after Greece denied permission to land.” An independent journalist also shared “The “Wing of Zion”, Netanyahu’s prime ministerial plane, took off from Nevatim air base today at 12.10pm. It flew off the coast of Israel for 4 hours before flying on to Berlin. It landed in the German capital this evening, at 8.30pm.”
Grok, meanwhile, fact-checked the claims about Greece saying “No, that’s unsubstantiated. Netanyahu issued a video statement today from Israel detailing the US-Israel strikes on Iran and signs Khamenei was killed in the operation. Credible sources (Reuters, BBC, AP) confirm he’s active there—no verified reports of fleeing to Greece. That claim traces to partisan sites with zero evidence, like last week’s old flight data.”
Notably, earlier claims were made about Netanyahu fleeing Israel as well, but they turned out to be wrong. It remains to be seen whether the Israeli PM is in Berlin, as his flight log shows, or whether he continues to be in Israel.