{"id":119595,"date":"2025-08-05T01:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T01:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/119595\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T01:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T01:16:11","slug":"israel-needs-to-reframe-its-message-as-its-narrative-is-almost-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/119595\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Needs to ‘Reframe’ Its Message as Its Narrative Is Almost Lost\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moshe Debby, Eylon Levy, and Asa Shapira warn of strategic collapse as Hamas leads an organized global PR campaign<\/p>\n

Israel has invested heavily in defense capabilities across land, air, sea, and cyber. But a different battlefield\u2014where perception determines legitimacy and visibility drives influence\u2014has received comparatively little attention. The \u201ceighth front,\u201d the media war, has exposed many cracks. According to several communication experts, this has allowed adversaries such as Hamas and aligned organizations to shape global narratives with relative ease.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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We\u2019re now in a bottom-up model where false information is amplified by major news channels rather than filtered by them<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe influence of perception-shaping through disinformation goes back to ancient times,\u201d says Moshe Debby, strategic consultant, expert in international affairs, and chairman of Debby Group. Speaking with The Media Line, he explains that social media platforms have overtaken traditional media in their ability to shape global public consciousness. \u201cThey\u2019ve bypassed traditional media and reach the masses directly,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re now in a bottom-up model where false information is amplified by major news channels rather than filtered by them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Moshe Debby, Chairman of Debby Group (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

As an example, Debby points to an image published by The New York Times, allegedly showing a starving child in Gaza. \u201cIn reality, the child was suffering from a severe genetic condition. The damage caused by the image was enormous, and the correction issued days later was meaningless.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not too late\u2014but we\u2019re very close,\u201d he warns. Debby describes how Israel is \u201closing this eighth front of the war\u201d due to underinvestment in global narrative infrastructure. \u201cIsrael is not investing nearly enough,\u201d he adds, \u201cand the cost is global public opinion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Other countries, and even terrorist organizations, have built ecosystems around narrative warfare<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Debby outlines how various nonstate actors have developed communication infrastructures designed to dominate digital platforms. \u201cOther countries, and even terrorist organizations, have built ecosystems around narrative warfare,\u201d he explains. \u201cThey master emotional storytelling. Israel still speaks in official statements.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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It created a reality where either it gets immunity by hiding behind civilians\u2014or Israel gets blamed for every consequence<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Former government spokesman Eylon Levy, who served during the early stages of the war, told The Media Line that Hamas deliberately designed its battlefield tactics to provoke international backlash against Israel\u2019s military actions. \u201cHamas designed the battlefield for the international media battle,\u201d he said. \u201cIt created a reality where either it gets immunity by hiding behind civilians, or Israel gets blamed for every consequence.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHamas made it such that the cost of going after its military machine was for Israel to sacrifice its international image,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Analysts point to a range of international responses that have coincided with the spread of anti-Israel narratives online: rising support for South Africa\u2019s genocide claim at the International Court of Justice; attempts to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials; ongoing legal campaigns targeting IDF soldiers in Europe and Latin America; and recent announcements of recognition for a Palestinian state by several countries. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Several Jewish communities around the world have also reported a rise in antisemitic incidents, correlating with flare-ups in the Israel\u2013Hamas conflict.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Former government spokesman Eylon Levy (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

Levy suggests the imbalance in the information war extends well beyond Israel\u2019s confrontation with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. \u201cIt\u2019s Israel versus Hamas, Islamic Jihad, UNRWA, the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, Save the Children, Amnesty International, and pretty much every human rights organization on the planet,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hostages complicate the narrative for many journalists and activists who want the war to end by pressuring Israel,\u201d Levy explains. \u201cThey understand that Israel cannot end the war while the hostages are still there. So their presence disrupts the dominant messaging frame.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hamas has released footage and imagery of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, including videos showing captives in visibly deteriorated physical condition. In several cases, families of the hostages have expressed concern or opposition to the public use of such material. These sensitivities, along with ethical considerations, have limited the integration of this content into Israel\u2019s official messaging.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe images of the hostages that Hamas posts are terrible, but they\u2019re also an opportunity to assess and show what\u2019s really going on,\u201d says Debby.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The IDF shouldn\u2019t be leading national communications\u2014it\u2019s a structural failure<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Both Levy and Debby identify the absence of a centralized, professional communications framework as a significant obstacle. \u201cThere\u2019s no central public diplomacy directorate,\u201d Levy notes. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t had a head in over a year.\u201d He argues that messaging has defaulted to the military, which is not structurally suited to lead national communications. \u201cThe IDF shouldn\u2019t be leading national communications\u2014it\u2019s a structural failure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Levy also highlights contradictions between domestic and international messaging. \u201cNetanyahu will put out a statement in English saying we\u2019re letting large amounts of aid into Gaza, and then a statement in Hebrew saying we\u2019re letting minimal aid,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can\u2019t reconcile the two.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Israeli officials and spokespeople have at times described such contradictions as attempts to balance transparency with strategic ambiguity. Critics, however, have warned that such mixed messaging may erode international credibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the early 2010s, Israel launched a branding campaign focused on innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship\u2014sometimes referred to as the \u201cCreative Energy\u201d strategy. According to Asa Shapira, head of the marketing and advertising track at Tel Aviv University, that approach resonated during Israel\u2019s high-tech boom but has since lost relevance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat message served us during the high-tech wave,\u201d Shapira said in an interview with The Media Line. \u201cBut branding is only one layer of perception. If people see images of starvation and war every day on the news, no slogan can change that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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We must build a strategy that acknowledges what people are seeing on screen. And we need to reframe it in a way that supports Israel\u2019s image\u2014without being tone-deaf or propagandistic.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Shapira suggests that reframing\u2014not ignoring\u2014what audiences are already seeing is essential. \u201cWe must build a strategy that acknowledges what people are seeing on screen,\u201d he explains. \u201cAnd we need to reframe it in a way that supports Israel\u2019s image\u2014without being tone-deaf or propagandistic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Asa Shapira, head of the marketing and advertising track at Tel Aviv University (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

He also identifies a dilemma: whether Israel should present itself primarily as the West\u2019s front line against radical jihad, or as a democratic, prosperous society attractive to investors and tourists. \u201cThat may help strategically,\u201d he notes, \u201cbut it doesn\u2019t necessarily attract investors or tourists.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the meantime, communications infrastructures built by Hamas and affiliated movements continue to operate across social platforms. \u201cJihadi movements have built a system for creating social media tactics that allow them to reach the public,\u201d says Debby. \u201cIsrael is working\u2014but it\u2019s not enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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We need a fleet of trained professional full-time spokespeople. Multilingual, working in shifts, waking up each day to do interviews, claim airtime, squash disinformation, and generate headlines.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Levy proposes that Israel establish a comprehensive crisis communication center with multilingual spokespersons, real-time monitoring, and proactive media engagement. \u201cWe need a fleet of trained professional full-time spokespeople,\u201d he says. \u201cMultilingual, working in shifts, waking up each day to do interviews, claim airtime, squash disinformation, and generate headlines.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some observers have cited the influence of platforms like Al Jazeera in shaping perceptions about the conflict. \u201cAl Jazeera has control of the narrative,\u201d Debby says. \u201cIsrael doesn\u2019t. That\u2019s the difference.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Israel\u2019s\u00a0 image is not going to improve as long as this war is still going on<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Efforts to improve Israel\u2019s international image are ongoing but face limitations in the context of active warfare. \u201cIsrael\u2019s image is not going to improve as long as this war is still going on,\u201d Levy acknowledges. \u201cRehabilitating our international standing is a task that can only begin when the war is over.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Others, including Debby, argue that delaying a coordinated effort could come at a high cost. \u201cIsrael needs to establish a dedicated communications infrastructure,\u201d he says, \u201coperating in all major languages and with sufficient funding to shape the narrative at scale before the window of opportunity closes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While public diplomacy often trails behind military priorities in wartime, analysts say its long-term impact can be decisive. In the digital arena, where emotion often travels faster than verification, the ability to tell a compelling story may prove as consequential as battlefield outcomes.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Moshe Debby, Eylon Levy, and Asa Shapira warn of strategic collapse as Hamas leads an organized global PR…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":119596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[99,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-119595","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114973519642810277","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}