Nearly two years into the war, why isn’t Israel taking its PR seriously?

Israel has no shortage of official spokespeople or passionate hasbarists, but without a clear policy coming from the government, Ezra said, they lack direction. “Spokespeople become like F-35s without a general to aim them,” or “artillery fire instead of precision weapons.”

Another expert suggested the Israeli government was “incapable” of articulating a diplomatic vision, and the situation was “abysmal”.

Individuals who started the war as the face of Israel, including military figures like Jonathan Conricus and Daniel Hagari are no longer in post, and veterans like Mark Regev are conspicuously absent from the airwaves, replaced by the much-maligned David Mencer. 

Peter Lerner (left) with former IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari (Image: X)[Missing Credit]

In this vacuum, many supporters of Israel have been left wondering who, if anyone, controls the messaging. Times of Israel journalist Haviv Rettig Gur recently recorded an exasperated monologue in which he bemoaned a media strategy that allowed misinformation about Israel to spread unchecked, without any pushback from official sources and how that, in turn, could compromise the IDF’s ability to act in Gaza.

Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference (Getty)POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Benjamin Netanyahu has previously spoken about the importance of public diplomacy. As someone who has been fighting Israel’s corner on English-language western media for decades, he is not ignorant of its power. In a recent podcast interview, Netanyahu said that “Jews have been fighting and losing the propaganda war for about 2500 years.” Last year, in a closed-door cabinet meeting, the embattled Prime Minister reportedly complained that the nation’s PR was suffering because he was “surrounded by people who can’t put two words together”. Subsequently, the PM said he “deeply values” the work of the directorate.

Eylon Levy raises his eyebrows in response to a question during an interview with Kay Burley (Credit: Twitter/X)[Missing Credit]

Eylon Levy, a British-born Oxbridge graduate who became a defacto government spokesman days after October 7, reckons that when Netanyahu has something to say, he “prefers” to say it himself. “But Israel needs more than one spokesman,” Levy told the JC.

After October 7, Levy went from a relative unknown to being swiftly ushered into a government role and becoming the sardonic, recognisable voice of Israel on English-speaking television.

Describing himself as an “emergency conscript” to the information war, he recalled that the directorate had “four employees and a kettle” when he joined. “How else do you think I found myself a government spokesperson within a week?” 

By March 2024, however, he was gone. Officially, the decision was made because of one of Levy’s trademark fiery posts on X, directed at then foreign secretary, David Cameron. But Levy maintains he was given the boot after it emerged that he had attended anti-Netanyahu protests the previous summer. “Sara Netanyahu had put a target on my back because she discovered I had been at the Kaplan protest,” Levy said, referring to the weekly anti-government protests that start on Kaplan street in Tel Aviv.

People gather at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv during a rally calling for the release of hostages (Flash90)Flash90

But would he go back into the fray? “If I was called to serve, I would go back in a heartbeat,” Levy said. For now, he runs a citizen-led advocacy initiative of his own. Ironically, his new operation is partially funded by the Israeli government’s diaspora affairs department – a contradiction which some say represents the disorganisation at the heart of Israel’s PR efforts. 

Former Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren (Getty)Getty Images for The New York Ti

Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador in Washington and previously a member of the Knesset, has also taken matters into his own hands. From his kitchen table after October 7, he launched the Israel Advocacy Group, a group that “relentlessly advocates for Israel and the Jewish people around the world by spearheading and leading behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts.”

Oren believes public diplomacy in Israel is viewed as a “poor stepchild” to all other government priorities. But, he thinks that it could cost the country the war. “It should be seen as more important than the actual battlefield,” but instead it remains undervalued and underfunded, according to Oren.

“We could be sanctioned; we could be boycotted. You’re going to have people protesting against Israel now who will look back at this period in the future as one of the most fulfilling moments of their lives – it will be their Woodstock – and they will be in power.”

Pro-Palestine encampment set up by student activists in front of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History on May 6, 2024Getty Images

Polls suggest his fears are well-founded. In Britain, a YouGov survey found 55 per cent of people oppose Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, with just 15 per cent in support. Of those opposed, 82 per cent described the war as genocide. In America, more than half of voters under 35 said the same. The number who say the war amounts to a genocide is highest among Labour voters in the UK and Democrats in the US.

Many Israelis fear that one day the US will elect its last president “who proudly calls themselves a Zionist.” 

But even in a world in which Israel had the perfect messengers, many of Israel’s difficulties stem partly from the different audiences that any PR strategy would hope to reach.

Gadi Ezra, former director of Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Unit in the Prime Minister’s Office (Photo: Nati Levy)[Missing Credit]

Ezra described the “contrasting measures” required: intimidating the enemy, bolstering Israelis at home, and gaining legitimacy from the international community. “What you want to show the world is different from what you want to show the enemy – in fact, it’s the opposite.

“Of course, each target audience reads the content that is directed to the other. Wise and efficient information policy knows how to manoeuvre the efforts according to the political level needs and goals, at the right timing, considering trends, interests,” Ezra told the JC.

He cited missed opportunities, such as putting cameras at aid crossings or clear labelling on parcels, which could have spoken directly to Gaza’s civilians. “There are many ways to win hearts and minds.”

But multiple ministries and agencies push competing messages, and in the age of social media, contradictions are magnified and messages cross wires.

Intense scrutiny over Israel’s statements and spokespeople compounds the challenge. “We live in an information sphere where people jump on any minor admission of a problem to say Israel is beyond repair. That makes it very hard to acknowledge shortcomings,” Levy said.

Richard Pater, CEO of Bicom[Missing Credit]

Richard Pater, CEO of the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (Bicom) and a former senior press officer in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, said Israel has always struggled to balance its three core audiences: domestic, Arab and Western. The domestic public needs to feel secure; the Arab world must perceive Israeli strength; and the West must view Israel as a restrained, responsible actor that respects international norms.

These three groups “have always been in conflict with each other,” Pater said, adding that with Trump in the White House, there’s a fourth category that Netanyahu is particularly preoccupied with.

“In the digital age, with everything bleeding together, the messaging has become impossible to compartmentalise,” Pater said.

Israeli far-right cabinet members Itamar Ben-Gvir (left) and Bezalel Smotrich (Image: Getty)AFP via Getty Images

Israel’s fractured domestic politics adds to the confusion. Pater points to three internal groups to whom information is targeted differently: mainstream Israelis, the hard right spearheaded by Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, and the Charedi bloc. “That’s an extra layer of incoherence,” he said.

Levy also points to divisions within Israel over the war. “At the start, there was an absolute consensus on the war aims. That consensus has unravelled, partly because this government has done a good job of undermining national unity.”

Conflicting statements from within Israel’s government only added to the confusion. Levy warned that “reckless remarks” by ministers, including Smotrich and Ben Gvir, though not official government policy, are damaging Israel’s international standing.

“Maintaining international public opinion is a strategic necessity,” he said. “I’ve been very vocal about government ministers who, through their reckless remarks, are deliberately sabotaging us and impeding the war effort,” Levy said.

Oren says independence from the government gives his own group an advantage. “I can bring an Israeli perspective, which is not a government perspective. Seventy-four per cent of Israelis want the war to end – if I’m a government spokesperson, I can’t say that,” he adds, noting that he can freely tell the world’s media what the mood is in Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel is fighting a terrorist regime that maintains a tight grip over the information coming out of Gaza. Hamas targets journalists or civilians who don’t toe its authoritarian line; those who have spoken out have been abducted, tortured and killed.

But the international press has not been permitted entry to Gaza beyond controlled embeds of a few hours alongside the IDF. Israeli officials say that their priority is the rescue of the hostages and the fight against Hamas, and reporters with unfettered access to the strip could be a safety risk.

While the experts the JC spoke to recognised the operational risks of foreign media in the Strip, which includes putting Israeli troops in peril as their movements might be revealed by international media, they expressed frustration with denying fuller media access to foreign journalists.

Israel has confirmed it will send aid through Gaza's private sector as part of a new distribution strategy (Image: Getty)AFP via Getty Images

“Gaza is a one-party authoritarian state with no freedom of the press,” Levy said, adding that Israel is “paying a price for the fact that independent media are not allowed inside.”

When Hamas livestreamed its attacks against Israeli civilians on October 7, the terror group showed that it viewed information and social media as part of its war against the Jewish state.

Ever since, anti-Israel posts on social media have ballooned.

Pater explained the number of anti-Israel versus pro-Israel posts on social media: “In a world of algorithms, we are blown out of the water by the number of Muslims and Arabs, and the green-red alliance across the West.”

This audience not only consumes but also generates much of the hostile content. “We’re sticking our finger in the dike here. It’s a huge challenge… Israel will never be able to compete on suffering. People want to support the underdog. The other side’s images will always lead,’ Pater said.

Yet some argue Israel could do more on social media.

Levy pointed to Hamas’s deployment of bots “to great effect.” Though he acknowledged that bots present an “ethical challenge for a democracy at war,” he suggested tools of online information deception were “not an obvious no – it’s a tool that can be used in war.”

Meanwhile, a former information insider told the JC that “Israel does not view the information domain as a core aspect of our national defence philosophy yet.” He warned that not enough people in the Israeli government are thinking ahead in terms of online information and international diplomacy.

“Not enough people are looking 20 or 30 years down the line and asking how to build capabilities in Artificial Intelligence that will protect Israel going forward.”

His advice: plan strategically. Referring to the UN General Assembly in September, he urged the Israeli government to prepare accordingly. One thing that will be on the minds of international attendees will be the images of hunger coming out of Gaza. “Hunger is one of the most important topics for international audiences,” said the expert, noting that eradicating hunger and malnutrition is enshrined in the UN’s 2030 sustainable development goals.

The stories of hunger coming out of Gaza have been relentless. For months, the world has been shown television images of desperate families searching for food and newspapers have printed front page pictures of emaciated children – many of whom later transpired to be suffering from other diseases.

Levy accused the media and aid agencies of repeating Hamas talking points. “It’s criminal-level gaslighting, making it appear that Israel is blocking food,” he said, accusing the UN and aid agencies of failing to distribute food in the areas of Gaza that they are responsible for feeding.
“The failure to convince the world that we were making serious efforts to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza led to international pressure on Israel,” Levy aruges. “That pressure led Hamas to harden its positions, reject a ceasefire – and as a result, hostages are still rotting in Gaza.”

Another expert said Israel’s aid strategy “blew up” because of its failed information campaign. “The world didn’t see our humanitarian efforts and so the pressure only increased to send more aid,” he said.

One problem, the former ambassador said, is perspective. “The world thinks Hamas came into Gaza from Mars… When President Biden said the Palestinian people have nothing to do with Hamas, Israelis didn’t buy that.”
The international community also sees different images on television compared to Israel’s domestic audience, Oren added, so it took longer for those in Israel to see scenes of hunger coming out of Gaza. “Israel does not see what the world sees in Gaza. Even our left-wing news doesn’t cover Palestinian suffering. It has been my thankless job to tell Israelis the world doesn’t see what you see – and it comes as a shock.”

With hostages still in captivity, troops fighting in Gaza, and a promised public inquiry yet to materialise, Israel is living in the immediate aftermath of the massacre, and the country is focused on survival.

“October 7 happened – a historical event for the world – but Israelis are still living it in a profound sense,” said Pater. “Through the eyes of the hostages, soldiers, the injured… There is still a cloud of trauma over this country that is not well understood outside Israel.”

But Israelis, including Levy, are adamant that they do not want sympathy: “We don’t want pity points, we just need the world to understand Israel’s predicament and why this war matters to the rest of the West.”

And while Oren believes that caring about international opinion has long been “antithetical to the Zionist mission,” he reckons this mindset is ineffective. Citing Ben-Gurion’s maxim, “It doesn’t matter what the gentiles say, but what the Jews do,” Oren suggests that in the current climate, what the rest of the world says is very important.

Referring to more than 2,500 years of antisemitism and a billion Muslims in the world, Oren suggests that Israel’s information war is an inevitable uphill battle; “There is a sense of despair that no matter what we do, we are condemned.” But the former ambassador says the Jewish State must try to tell a compelling narrative about the war, or – irrespective of the IDF’s progress on the Gaza front – it will lose.

Meir might have once suggested that Israel’s image and survival could be separated, but according to many fighting in the Hasbara trenches, that’s an attitude that Israel in 2025 may need to shed.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office has been approached for comment.