[News] Israel's Disinformation Apparatus: A Key Weapon in its Arsenal

[Anti-Imperialist News]

al-shabaka.org
<https://al-shabaka.org/briefs/israels-disinformation-apparatus-a-key-weapon-in-its-arsenal/>
Israel's Disinformation Apparatus: A Key Weapon in its Arsenal

by Tariq Kenney-Shawa
<https://al-shabaka.org/en/author/tariq-kenney-shawa/> on March
12, 2024
*Introduction*

During campaigns of genocide and ethnic cleansing, disinformation is a
potent weapon—a tool to dehumanize victims, justify mass violence, and most
importantly, sow seeds of doubt designed to muzzle calls for intervention.
When information is weaponized, confusion and doubt no longer emerge from
the “fog of war” as a symptom, but are purposefully cultivated with the
explicit intention of creating it.

At the time of writing, Israeli forces have killed over 30,000 Palestinians
across Gaza and the West Bank since October 2023. They have targeted
hospitals, schools, and civilians fleeing their homes. Israel’s assault is
marked not only by the historic scale of violence being inflicted upon
Palestinians, but by the unprecedented flood of disinformation being
deployed to justify it.

Propaganda and disinformation produced at industrial scale by official
Israeli government and military sources are being legitimized and boosted
by a wide network of journalists and open-source intelligence (OSINT)
analysts, who have discarded all vestiges of objectivity and analytical
rigor in their coverage. Instead of bearing witness to Israeli war crimes
and questioning the narratives put forth by a regime engaging in genocide,
they have become complicit in them. As a result, Israeli information
operations are benefiting from a media network acting not as unbiased
reporters, but as enablers of Israeli mass atrocities.

This policy brief explores the information warfare tactics Israel has used
to influence public perception of its ongoing genocide in Gaza, how these
efforts have contributed to the decay of truth, and how they hamper efforts
to organize a global response. It also explains how journalists and
open-source intelligence analysts have become active enablers of Israeli
war crimes by acting as uncritical conduits of Israeli propaganda. Finally,
it offers recommendations for reporters, analysts, and the wider public to
leverage open-source tools to refute dominant Israeli propaganda and
disinformation.
*Hasbara: A Long-Running Strategy *

Israel has long recognized the information environment as a critical battle
front to justify the perpetual oppressive structures of occupation and
apartheid. “Hasbara,” which translates to “explaining” in Hebrew, has long
embodied this recognition. Rooted in pre-existing concepts
<https://mepc.org/speeches/hasbara-and-control-narrative-element-strategy>
of state-sponsored propaganda, agitprop, and information warfare, hasbara
aims to shape the very parameters of acceptable discourse. This involves a
coordinated effort by both state institutions and NGOs to bolster Israeli
domestic unity, secure support of allies, and influence how media,
intellectuals, and influencers discuss Israel.

Israel has long recognized the information environment as a critical battle
front to justify the perpetual oppressive structures of occupation and
apartheid
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For years, Israel’s hasbara efforts were coordinated by government bodies,
such as the Ministry of Strategic Affairs. After the ministry’s closure in
2021, the Israeli cabinet approved a NIS 100 million
<https://www.972mag.com/hasbara-funding-foreign-agents/> ($30 million)
project aimed at adapting Israeli hasbara for an evolving global audience.
The initiative, led by then-Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, funneled funds
indirectly to foreign entities, ranging from social media influencers to
media-watch organizations, that would disseminate pro-Israel propaganda
while concealing direct ties to the Israeli government. These concerted
efforts seek to establish cognitive filters that validate Israeli interests
while discrediting opposing narratives on Israeli settler colonialism and
its systemic violence.

In adapting to an information-rich environment, hasbarists do not solely
seek to block access to information but rather guide audiences towards
selective interpretation. For over 75 years
<https://www.newarab.com/news/understanding-hasbara-israels-propaganda-machine>,
they have cast Israel as the perpetual victim, despite its military
dominance and role as occupier, and are now deploying the same tactics to
justify genocide in Gaza. By accusing Hamas of using Palestinians in Gaza
as "human shields,” painting Palestinian resistance groups as existential
threats akin to the Nazis and ISIS, or smearing victims of Israeli air
strikes as “crisis actors,” hasbara aims to justify the unjustifiable.
*Sowing Seeds of Doubt*

Before the digital age, it was easier for Israel to discredit Palestinian
claims by denying them outright. But the advent of the 24/7 news cycle and
social media allowed images of Israeli atrocities to traverse the world at
the speed of information, forcing Israeli hasbarists to change tactics.

On September 30, 2000, 12-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah was shot and killed
<https://www.972mag.com/pallywood-trope-second-intifada/> by Israeli forces
during a gun battle between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian security
forces. The moment of Muhammad’s death, which was caught on camera, marked
the birth of the hasbara term “Pallywood,” a racist smear that accuses
Palestinians of acting out fake atrocities to blame on Israelis.

Unable to deny Muhammed’s killing outright, Israeli propagandists resorted
to delegitimizing the source altogether. After footage of Muhammad’s death
went viral, Israelis insisted that he was a crisis actor
<https://theaugeanstables.com/al-durah-affair-the-dossier/guide-to-al-durah-recent-posts-till-september-21-2006/>
and that his death was a hoax <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02x_4If0gmw>.
It did not matter that Muhammad’s father buried his son with his own hands,
nor did it matter that the murder was caught on video and confirmed by
eyewitnesses. What mattered was that all Palestinian claims henceforth
would be tainted by doubt, subjected to heightened scrutiny, or written off
outright.

The primary targets of Israeli disinformation are the two constituencies
that matter most to Israel’s leaders: the Israeli public and Western
audiences
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During the years that followed, the practice of portraying Palestinian
victims of Israeli war crimes as crisis actors evolved from a
conspiratorial fringe tactic to an official Israeli government strategy. On
October 13, 2023, the official X account of the State of Israel posted a
video
<https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/israel-falsely-claimed-footage-showed-214343449.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAK1E74lXhjQP-xzfIQObTE1DTq0UmmODZRg11xRsOtkL8kMgkCD22Y9-vT8puOYcxobWuKd8kVheJmL29RhB5Zt1hWkMw4RFcuNt50jwybmlxd8-Wj2LUI53h0chhY1haqnc4BXA7ZpIz3-DT36a1ZjB0dZ-m0fXYTBwW-cyonb>
of a dead Palestinian child, wrapped in a white burial shroud, claiming it
was a doll planted by Hamas. Only after the original uploader of the video
was tracked down, the child identified, and additional evidence shared, was
the libelous post deleted without official explanation or retraction. By
then, the fake news had already garnered millions of views and the damage
was done. Henceforth, all images of dead Palestinian children would be
written off by an audience primed to doubt their authenticity.

The next month, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu was called out for attempting to pass off footage
<https://www.newarab.com/news/israeli-official-exposed-spreading-disinfo-gaza-suffering>
from a Lebanese film as evidence that Palestinians were faking injuries
from Israeli attacks. The post remained up for days, despite an X community
note and a BBC debunk <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67760523>.
“Pallywood” smears have also been leveled at popular influencers in an
attempt to discredit them. For example, viral posts
<https://twitter.com/MattBinder/status/1717648864251957365> from official
Israeli social media accounts claimed that Saleh Aljafarawi, a popular
influencer who has been covering Israel’s assault on Gaza, staged fake
injuries at a hospital. This was likewise later debunked
<https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-israel-hamas-gaza-false-crisis-actors-068772255064>,
as the footage was proven to instead be of Mohammed Zendiq, a young man
injured during an Israeli incursion in the West Bank.

Of course, Israeli claims of “Pallywood” propaganda were never designed to
withstand even rudimentary fact-checking and scrutiny. But in an age in
which over 50% of US adults
<https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/>
get their news from social media and an even higher number do not read past
headlines, Israeli disinformation can become engrained long before it is
debunked. One study found that 86 percent
<https://www.prweek.com/article/1431578/study-86-people-dont-fact-check-news-spotted-social-media>
of people do not fact-check news they see on social media. Another study
<https://www.logicallyfacts.com/en/analysis/pallywood-how-denial-of-civilian-harm-has-proliferated>
found that the volume of social media posts citing Pallywood “increased
steadily in the days after October 7”, and that the term was mentioned over
146,000 times between October 7th and October 27th.

The primary targets of Israeli disinformation are the two constituencies
that matter most to Israel’s leaders: the Israeli public and Western
audiences. In a battle for sympathy, the truth is rarely a requisite.
Sometimes all it takes is a headline that captures attention and confirms
preexisting biases.
*Justifying War Crimes *

With an international audience primed to treat Palestinian claims with
skepticism from the outset, Israeli state-sponsored disinformation
campaigns have become a critical tool in justifying war crimes. This
strategy is centered on convincing foreign governments and the wider public
that Palestinian resistance groups use civilians as human shields and
civilian infrastructure for military purposes, rendering them legitimate
targets. Nowhere has this been more pronounced than in Israel’s systematic
assault on Gaza’s hospitals and health infrastructure since October 7th,
2023.

(Israel’s) strategy is centered on convincing foreign governments and the
wider public that Palestinian resistance groups use civilians as human
shields and civilian infrastructure for military purposes, rendering them
legitimate targets
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On October 27th, the Israeli military’s official X account posted a 3D
rendition <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pTYHBZVgVQ> of an elaborate
labyrinth of tunnels and bunkers underneath Al-Shifa Hospital, alleging
Hamas was using it as a command center. Their claims were specific:
Al-Shifa was the “beating heart” of Hamas’s command infrastructure, and
several hospital buildings sat directly atop tunnels that could be accessed
from hospital wards. Israel provided no evidence to back up their claims,
but that did not stop the Biden Administration from unequivocally repeating
the Israeli narrative. Speaking to reporters a day before Israeli forces
stormed the hospital, John Kirby, a US National Security Council
spokesperson, insisted
<https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/14/politics/white-house-hamas-al-shifa/index.html>
that not only did “Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) members
operate a command-and-control node from Al-Shifa,” but that they were using
the hospital to “hold hostages” and were “prepared to respond to an Israeli
military operation.” Like the Israeli military, Kirby presented no evidence
to back up his statement.

On November 15th, Israeli forces stormed Al-Shifa hospital
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/15/israels-raid-on-al-shifa-hospital-heres-what-you-should-know#:~:text=Israeli%20forces%20raided%20Gaza's%20al,grave%20on%20the%20hospital%20premises.>,
hours after the Biden Administration had effectively given them the green
light. What they found fell far short of their far-reaching claims. While
Israeli forces did uncover a tunnel that ran under a corner of the hospital
compound, none of the hospital buildings were connected to the tunnel
network—which showed no signs of military use—and there was no evidence
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/15/israel-gaza-al-shifa-hospital-raid-case/>
of access from hospital wards. Hamas fighters never mobilized en masse to
defend the facility from within, as US intelligence predicted. There were
no signs of hostages and, most importantly, no command center.

While Al-Shifa represents the cornerstone of Israel’s disinformation
campaign against Palestinian health infrastructure, it is far from the only
target. Israeli forces have carried out over 500 attacks
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231211-unprecedented-medical-crisis-healthcare-workers-and-facilities-targeted-in-gaza/>
on healthcare workers and infrastructure across Gaza and the West Bank
since October 7th, averaging about 7 attacks per day. These numbers include
attacks on hospitals and clinics, healthcare personnel, ambulances,
patients, and medical aid stations. By planting the idea, regardless of its
veracity, that Hamas and other resistance groups might be using hospitals
for military purposes, Israel casts a shadow of doubt over whether Gaza’s
entire health system enjoys the protections afforded by international
humanitarian law. In doing so, Israel transforms the perception of attacks
on hospitals from a brazen violation of international law to a norm.
*Journalists and OSINT Analysts as Enablers*

While the last three months reveal how uniquely callous and crude Israel’s
information manipulation tactics are, they are not new. In fact, many of
the Israeli talking points we have become so familiar with today are eerily
reminiscent
<https://www.thenation.com/article/world/hamas-israel-war-gaza-vietnam/> of
the rhetoric the US employed to justify civilian massacres in Vietnam. But
while much of the political establishment in the West has come to widely
condemn the indiscriminate bombing campaigns, the use of internationally
prohibited munitions, and the collective punishment of civilians by US
forces in Vietnam, they now justify Israel’s use of the same tactics in
Gaza.

When it comes to public opinion, much of the proclivity to exceptionalize
Israeli war crimes is due to the failure of journalists to critically
analyze Israeli narratives against the backdrop of Israel’s history of
disinformation, even when open-source investigative tools readily
contradict their claims. Indeed, Israel's disinformation tactics would not
be as successful as they are without the complicity of journalists and
OSINT analysts. Rather than challenging and debunking false claims, many
have abandoned objectivity and journalistic rigor and instead act as
mouthpieces for the Israeli military.

When it comes to public opinion, much of the proclivity to exceptionalize
Israeli war crimes is due to the failure of journalists to critically
analyze Israeli narratives against the backdrop of Israel’s history of
disinformation
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Journalists today enjoy two key advantages that those covering the Vietnam
war did not have: the benefits of hindsight and the verification tools
provided by OSINT analysis. Instead of treating Israeli claims with
inherent skepticism, seasoned journalists are acquiescing to Israeli
censorship and narrative control. In November, CNN’s White House
correspondent Jeremy Diamond joined a small number of journalists,
including ABC’s Ian Pannell and Fox News’s Trey Yingst, in announcing that
they would be covering the “Israel-Hamas war” from inside Gaza—but under
serious limitations: “As a condition to enter Gaza under IDF escort,
outlets have to submit all materials and footage to the Israeli military
for review prior to publication,” said Becky Anderson, who introduced
<https://newrepublic.com/article/176919/cnn-abc-nbc-reporters-embedding-israeli-military-gaza>
Diamond’s report. While there is nothing new about journalists embedding
with armed forces, Israel’s required screening and censorship of reporting
stand out when compared to other militaries. Indeed, even the US military
did not explicitly mandate <https://sgp.fas.org/othergov/dod/embed.pdf>
that journalists embedded with its forces in Iraq submit all of their
reporting for approval prior to publishing, except in select cases
involving classified information.

Effective journalism requires constant verification and fact-checking,
informed by an instinct for skepticism. By accepting Israel’s uniquely
onerous censorship terms in Gaza, journalists are doing more harm than
good. The information Israel allows to be published is carefully selected
to justify the targeting and killing of Palestinian civilians, and by only
reporting the approved narrative of a military currently engaged in
genocide, journalists are effectively giving a platform to war crimes
justifications. Uncritically regurgitating unverified claims made by a
military with a history of information manipulation in the midst of a
genocide is not journalism; it is stenography.
*Unobjective OSINT Analysts *

As traditional journalism fails the tests of objectivity, OSINT once again
finds itself in the spotlight. Over recent years, OSINT has emerged as a
trusted source of news and objective analysis amid waning confidence in
state institutions and traditional media. Much of this is due to the
traceable, transparent nature of open-source investigations, which has made
OSINT analysts popular sources of news and situational analysis for
journalists, lawmakers, and the public alike.

Open-source investigations have been pivotal
<https://al-shabaka.org/briefs/harnessing-open-source-intelligence-for-palestinian-liberation/>
in countering Israeli state-sponsored disinformation. In one instance, a New
York Times investigation
<https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-al-shifa-hospital.html>
refuted Israeli claims that a misfired Palestinian rocket hit Al-Shifa
Hospital courtyard on November 10th, revealing that the projectile was, in
fact, an Israeli artillery shell. This exposed not only Israeli
responsibility for the strike but also their deceptive tactics, which went
as far as providing a false mockup
<https://twitter.com/Israel/status/1723073866434478114> of radar data to
deceive the media.

While OSINT has once again
<https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/03/open-source-intelligence-palestine-israel-digital-occupation-osint/>
proven to be an integral tool in war crimes investigations by circumventing
Israeli access denial and debunking disinformation, some popular OSINT
accounts have discarded their facades of objectivity. While this is
indicative of wider trends in the deteriorating information environment on
social media, a growing number of popular OSINT accounts are using their
far-reaching platforms to peddle Israeli disinformation and even cover up
Israeli war crimes.

Perhaps the most obvious example of this is an X account by the name of
OSINT Defender. A self-described “Open Source Intelligence Monitor focused
on Europe and Conflicts across the World,” OSINT Defender gained prominence
covering the war in Ukraine. Recent investigations
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/27/x-twitter-elite-hamas-accounts-london-georgia/>
have revealed OSINT Defender’s identity as Simon Anderson, a member of the
US military and resident of the state of Georgia. Since October 7th, the
account has developed a reputation for sharing Israeli disinformation,
dehumanizing Palestinians, and justifying Israeli war crimes.

OSINT Defender has shared debunked Israeli claims
<https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1717909792851677399?s=20> of the
alleged Hamas command center under Al-Shifa and described
<https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1734727411848151375?s=20> hundreds
of Palestinian civilians rounded up and tortured by Israeli forces as
“Hamas terrorists.” The Israeli military itself later admitted that those
rounded up were indeed civilians, but OSINT Defender never retracted the
original posts. He has also fueled racist “Pallywood” tropes
<https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1722042585177358364?s=20> and
routinely
describes <https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1714728569497080166?s=20>
peaceful protesters calling for a ceasefire as violent “Hamas supporters.”
If that wasn’t enough, Anderson also claimed
<https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1712852720468508922?s=20> that the
group of journalists killed by an Israeli tank shell in southern Lebanon
were filming “current exchanges of fire,” when in reality, no active combat
was ongoing at the time they were targeted. In none of these cases has
OSINT Defender publicly retracted or corrected the false claims, even when
debunked.

While experienced analysts and journalists may be able to identify the
disinformation and engagement farming that accounts like OSINT Defender are
known for, the same cannot be said for the general public. Their
understanding of Israel’s assault on Gaza continues to be shaped by
analysts assumed to be objective who, in reality, act as an extended arm of
the Israeli propaganda machine. For example, accounts such as Aleph א
<https://twitter.com/no_itsmyturn> and Israel Radar
<https://twitter.com/IsraelRadar_com> provide more technical analysis of
developments throughout the region, but never question Israeli military
narratives or correct Israeli disinformation, even when it is publicly
debunked. They routinely fact check other accounts for sharing
disinformation, but give the Israeli military a pass from the same
verification process. For example, while pro-Israel accounts were quick to
share Israel’s fabricated radar data
<https://twitter.com/IsraelWarRoom/status/1723071518597353740> mockup that
claimed misfired Palestinian rockets struck Al-Shifa on November 10th, they
were nowhere to be seen when subsequent investigations debunked it.
*Conclusion*

Israel's strategy in Gaza is not limited to dehumanizing Palestinians and
justifying war crimes under the guise of self-defense. In addition to
saturating the information environment with an unprecedented deluge of
state-sponsored disinformation, Israel has further isolated Gaza by
deliberately targeting and destroying communications infrastructure. The
resulting communications blackouts have thrust Gaza further into the dark,
making it increasingly difficult for Palestinians to share evidence of
Israeli war crimes with the outside world. As a result, efforts to push
back against Israeli disinformation are severely hindered and Israeli
propaganda can run amok.

Israel’s near-total control of the information environment is further
compounded by the global network of journalists and OSINT analysts who,
wittingly or unwittingly, act as uncritical conduits for pro-Israel and
anti-Palestinian narratives. This phenomenon underscores a dangerous
precedent, where the rapid dissemination of information—or
disinformation—can shape international perceptions in real time before
thorough verification or counter-narratives can take hold.

Moreover, Israel’s information warfare tactics, deeply ingrained in the
nation’s military and political ethos, serve as a stark reminder of the
power of narrative control in facilitating mass atrocities. The case of
Gaza presents a microcosm of a broader, global challenge: how to navigate
and counter state-sponsored disinformation in a hyper-connected world.
*Recommendations: *

   - Civil society and NGOs should collaborate to enhance media literacy
   and offer training opportunities designed to educate the general public on
   how to identify disinformation and propaganda. While this applies to all
   forms of media, training in basic OSINT collection methods would arm
   audiences with the tools they need to verify information as it comes out in
   real time. This could include training on conducting reverse image
   searches, geolocating footage shared online, and cross-checking information
   across multiple trustworthy sources. They should also advocate for
   increased funding of independent fact-checking organizations, such as
   Al-Haq <https://www.alhaq.org/> and Forensic Architecture
   <https://forensic-architecture.org/>.
   - Media organizations and journalists should adhere to widely recognized
   journalistic and editorial standards when it comes to fact-checking and
   source verification, especially during conflicts characterized by rampant
   human rights abuses and war crimes. Claims made by militaries or armed
   groups should be treated with heightened scrutiny. In light of access
   limitations imposed by Israel, it is imperative for media organizations to
   prioritize sourcing news content and situational updates from Palestinian
   sources and hiring Palestinian reporters wherever feasible.
   - International law is woefully unprepared to address the evolving
   nature of state-sponsored disinformation in the digital age. In addition to
   developing wider legal frameworks to address the issue, the UN and other
   international bodies should establish a task force to monitor and document
   instances of Israeli state-sponsored disinformation designed to dehumanize
   Palestinians and justify mass killing. This information can be included as
   evidence of Israel’s genocidal intent in ongoing and future investigations.
   - Social media companies must take action to address their role in
   facilitating the spread of disinformation and propaganda that dehumanize
   Palestinians and justify war crimes. This includes implementing robust
   fact-checking mechanisms, enhancing transparency in content moderation
   efforts, collaborating with independent fact-checkers, strengthening
   community standards, and amplifying Palestinian voices, rather than
   censoring them.
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