‘Israel Has Won The War Here’: Social Media Falls for Israeli Barista Featured in Netanyahu Proof-of-Life Video

A yet-to-be-identified young Israeli coffee shop barista has become an internet sensation after appearing briefly in a tongue-in-cheek video Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released Sunday to dispel rumors of his death.The clip, posted on the prime minister’s X account over the weekend, was meant to assure the public of Mr. Netanyahu’s good health amid conspiracy theories that he had been killed in a missile strike last week. The video shows Mr. Netanyahu picking up a coffee at a Jerusalem cafe while mocking the rumors with puns like “I am dead for coffee” and “I love my nation to death.”The camera briefly pans to an unnamed woman in a green apron standing behind the register. The blonde barista’s fresh face and golden locks appeared to upstage the Prime Minister as users took screenshots and posted them in the comments. “Just look at her,” one user gushed. “Israel won the war here,” proclaimed another. Some users measured her against American figures celebrated for their looks, including supermodel Bella Hadid, suggesting the barista far outranked the competition. One post comparing her to the wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Rama Duwaji, received some 17,000 likes.Amid the social media frenzy, one Iranian Jewish influencer reckoned that “this Israeli barista has reduced global antisemitism more than the ADL could ever dream of.” Foreign policy analyst David Wurmser, who served as a Middle East adviser to Vice President Cheney, called it “One of the greatest turnarounds in social media history.” He wrote on X: “All of a sudden, average Israelis are re-humanized and are like the girl next door. And they are smiling and happy, not panic and despaired.” A former spokesman for the state of Israel, Eylon Levy, offered his own explanation: “Israelis don’t understand why the internet is going crazy for Netanyahu’s barista, because the baristas in Israel are gorgeous. We assumed they’re like that everywhere.” He added: “Come visit when the war is over.”However, an Israeli podcaster, Raz Sauber issued a word of caution: “You guys would have a heart attack just walking around Tel Aviv.”

‘Israel Has Won The War Here’: Social Media Falls for Israeli Barista Featured in Netanyahu Proof-of-Life Video

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