It seems that "Israel" discovered the Internet on October 7 of last year, the day of the "Al-Aqsa Flood." Today, there is an urgent need to “influence international public opinion, in order to enable the Israeli army to achieve its war goals,” according to Haaretz.



The newspaper "Haaretz" revealed that "Israel", according to five informed sources, purchased a technological system for collective influence, and this system is capable, among other things, of producing content adapted to online awareness campaigns, as part of a broader attempt to deal with what it described. Intelligence and technological sources described the "failure of the Israeli official media", which was revealed on October 7 of last year, and the dangerous credibility crisis in "Israel", which made it more difficult for the Israeli "army" to act against the Hamas movement.

According to the newspaper, this system is currently operated by a government office, according to several sources, although it is supposed to be used for psychological warfare and intelligence influence. The newspaper pointed out that the background to Israel’s acquisition of this system, according to eight sources from the world of influence, intelligence, and media in Israel, was the need to curb the anti-Israel “poison machine,” which spreads “pro-Palestinian misinformation and denial of the massacre.” “In addition to anti-Semitic content online,” she said, “especially among young people in the West.”

"Haaretz" quoted sources in "Israel" as saying that "there is an urgent need to influence international public opinion, in order to enable the Israeli army to achieve the goals of the war," despite the intense killing and harsh images from Gaza.

"Israel" is not prepared for the social networking front

It became clear in the first hours of the October 7 attack, according to Haaretz, that the Israeli security establishment was not prepared for the front of social networks and instant messaging applications, such as Telegram. Urgent intelligence needs arose that required immediate attention, and high-tech workers and technology companies were brought in to help fill the gap. Within the framework of a joint operations room, network mapping and facial recognition technologies were developed. After weeks, it became clear that there was a need for active dissemination of information.

In this context, the newspaper reported, from sources involved in the operation, that the security and military institutions, especially the intelligence services, believe that there is an “urgent Israeli need” for influence in order to respond to the Hamas movement on the battlefield of awareness. Ben Yacoub pointed out that since the outbreak of fighting, Hamas has been running a huge propaganda network that caught Israel by surprise and was not prepared for it. The movement also uses a channel on Telegram that has millions of followers as a semi-official channel to spread propaganda and information.

"Haaretz" also quoted Israeli sources as saying that those involved in the process of purchasing the influence system saw that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the so-called "National Media Service" in "Israel" do not provide appropriate solutions to the needs of the security and military institutions, and that the ability of the "Army Spokesman Unit" “Israel is limited in responding effectively to the endless stream of visual and propaganda materials disseminated by Hamas. Ben Yaqoub also quoted a group of Israeli sources as saying that “Israel” was surprised on October 7, and it was “completely unprepared.” The current Israeli psychological warfare units, which primarily target speakers of Arabic and Persian, turned out to be unrelated to the battle. The current needs and influence requirements of the Israeli security and military institutions.

Israel's position on the awareness front is dangerous

Haaretz saw that the growing doubts in the documents and arguments of the Israeli army spokesman made any official Israeli attempt to respond to Hamas’ propaganda have the opposite effect. The newspaper quoted a former Israeli intelligence source as saying that what is happening is a battle over the legitimacy of “Israel” itself to exist as “a state with an army,” adding that “in this sense, Hamas has already won.”

According to Haaretz, they realized this in the security services and “civilian” operations rooms, and it became clear to them that “Israel does not have an effective way to respond and fight on the battlefield of awareness, and that failure makes it difficult for the Israeli army to operate on the ground.” It has also become clear to the occupation how dangerous Israel's position is on the awareness front, as the scope of information disseminated by pro-Palestinian elements in the network is enormous, and Israel is facing difficulty in curbing the wave of international support for the Hamas movement. In addition, they in "Israel" believed that the psychological warfare waged by Hamas, including the publication of scenes of humiliation of Israeli soldiers, threatened the "national" strength of "Israel" and the morale of the "Israeli" army.

"Haaretz" indicated that after it became clear in "Israel" that the official Israeli media was losing the battle for global awareness, an arms race began for digital assets, in order to disseminate information and content, alongside the Israeli "army" spokesman, and to fight the mechanisms of Good publishing of Hamas online. Video clips and photos taken by Israeli soldiers in Gaza began to be leaked through unofficial information channels on Telegram, including an English-language channel that published “exclusive video clips.” Also, the Influence Section of the Operations Division of the Israeli “Army,” which is responsible for psychological warfare operations against the enemy (i.e., the resistance), began running a Hebrew-language channel in order to display the bodies of Palestinians, “so that everyone can see what we are doing to them.”

"Israel" purchased existing technologies on the market and did not take the initiative to develop its own technologies

After the need emerged in “Israel” to implement a large-scale response against Hamas’ propaganda, a “clarification media” forum was established, which included the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, other ministries, technology companies, civic initiatives, Jewish organizations, and security bodies such as the Israeli “Army.” The Shin Bet and the National Security Council, and this forum was held weekly in order to coordinate goals and objectives, according to what Haaretz reported.

The newspaper added that "Israel" decided to obtain current technologies (existing in the market), instead of developing them independently, so a number of civilian tools were purchased that were developed for political and commercial campaigns, including a system for mapping the target audience, and a system capable of opening websites automatically. , producing appropriate content, a system for monitoring online trends, and additional things, in order to implement a campaign aimed at promoting the messages that “Israel” seeks to disseminate, in order to shape global public opinion, in a way that serves its goals.

In "Israel" they fear the dangers of the influence system

Several Israeli sources said, according to "Haaretz", that both within the Israeli security and military institutions, and outside them, they realized the risks of obtaining and operating this influence technology, and they were also concerned about political interference on the part of the Prime Minister's Office, which is responsible for the information system, and the bodies Others interested in obtaining the system. Israeli reports stated that an “important security body” (they did not specify what it was) was supposed to manage this circle of influence, but it refused to manage it, after expressing its concern that this circle “would also be used for internal political purposes in Israel.”

"Haaretz" added that Israeli sources indicated that it was decided that an Israeli government body would manage the system, instead of a security body, so that the first campaign is currently running online, in a foreign language, created through the system, with the aim of "fighting anti-Semitism and Zionism." According to sources involved in the process, it is still unclear which body in “Israel” will supervise the system’s activity, and what will happen to the digital assets that were purchased and created after the end of the war.

Haaretz quoted an informed source as saying that “influence has become a strategic issue,” and this “Israel” should have realized in advance, but that did not happen, neither at the political level, nor in the Israeli “army.” The source added, “There should have been coordination between everyone, but instead of one voice, “there are (now) three voices working in multiple directions,” referring to politicians (ministries), security and military institutions, and “civilian” actors (including technicians and influencers). ...And “there was chaos in the first days and weeks, and various government ministries quarreled over trust and responsibility.” An intelligence source added that “Israel” never viewed this front as a real battle, and its situation is exactly like the case of education in “Israel”: “Zero investment.” The intelligence source added to “Haaretz” that it appears as if “Israel” discovered the Internet on October 7 of last year, the day of the “Al-Aqsa Flood.”