By Iqbal Jassat
Israeli newspaper Haaretz has disclosed fresh attempts by the Zionist regime to overcome its rotten public image by pouring millions into Hasbara (propaganda) campaigns.
Appropriately titled “The Millions Fueling Israel’s Frantic Battle to Win Back U.S. Public Opinion” it explains that as Israel’s global standing plummets amid the wars in Gaza and Iran, government documents and U.S. filings reveal that Jerusalem has poured unprecedented sums into public diplomacy campaigns and influence operations abroad since October 7.
Israel’s unprecedented spending on global propaganda exposes a reality that the Netanyahu regime has long sought to conceal.
However, the futility of false propaganda to purchase favourable public opinion when the world is witnessing the consequences of military campaigns in Gaza and beyond is a reality the genocidal regime is blinded by.
The allocation of roughly $100 million to influence foreign audiences reflects not confidence in its narrative, but recognition that it is steadily losing credibility.
Conveniently absent from official messaging is the fact that this vast communications operation emerged alongside mounting international scrutiny of Israel’s conduct.
Rather than addressing the substance of allegations, the priority shifted to narrative management. Tens of millions of dollars were channelled into digital advertising across Google, YouTube, X and other platforms, while government agencies coordinated messaging designed to shape perceptions rather than confront documented realities.
The beneficiaries of this strategy extend beyond the Israeli state. Global technology companies profited from the advertising spend. Public relations firms, digital marketing agencies and media platforms became participants in an information campaign financed with public money.
The integration of multiple government departments into a single communications apparatus demonstrates how modern conflicts are fought as aggressively in the information space as they are on the battlefield.
This reflects a familiar pattern. From the Iraq War to the so-called War on Terror, the US government along with NATO have repeatedly invested enormous resources in manufacturing consent, managing headlines and framing military action as defensive necessity.
When facts become increasingly difficult to defend, public relations becomes another weapon of war. The objective is not transparency but narrative warfare to gain dominance.
The continued decline in Israel’s international standing despite this extraordinary expenditure demonstrates the limits of propaganda in the digital age.
Images, eyewitness accounts and independent reporting increasingly challenge carefully constructed official narratives.
No advertising budget, however large, can permanently shield state policy from global scrutiny.
Nor does the connivance by Zionist institutions to enhance Israel’s public image lend them any credibility.
A study by Taylor and Francis makes clear that the professionalisation of Hasbara was completed with Israel’s formation of an informal Ministry of Hasbara that expanded under the influence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and additional investment in a social media strategy.
“The evolution of Hasbara has nurtured discontent regarding Palestine and consent for Israel. Yet this has deformed into a major paradox where Israel is executing a military war and actively influencing opinions through racism and violence, and simultaneously highlights Western complicity with settler colonialism through regional alignment with (Western) imperialism”.
The lesson Hasbarists fail to grasp is that the crime of genocide cannot be concealed, no matter the deception applied, nor the millions spent.
During 2024, Le Monde posed an important challenge to Israel’s military leaders by unpacking
Hasbara as “the dark art of spinning a war” and quoting Voltaire whose advice “Lie like the devil, boldly and always”, has been adopted by the regime.
Iqbal Jassat
Executive Member
Media Review Network