There is No Ceasefire in the Narrative War

As Israel’s public image has gone into free fall, we’ve now crossed a threshold where it is considered socially and politically acceptable to publicly call for the destruction of Israel and her inhabitants. This mega-shift in public opinion is influencing governments once solidly allied with Israel to take measures that are already beginning to compromise Israel’s security.

• Consider that the criticism of Israel coming from Western governments, and the recent unconditional recognition of a Palestine state by a number of countries, all motivated Hamas to prolong the war and keep the hostages in confinement for a longer time, all of which led to more casualties.
• Consider that a sitting member of the US Congress recently took the stage at a conference to call for the destruction of Israel, and she was not publicly criticized by her fellow legislators for this.
• Consider that otherwise-polite people are willing to talk openly, in public, about the need for Israel to be destroyed.

This matters. It’s really bad.

The False Dichotomy of the Past

For decades, Israelis have resisted defending themselves in the court of public opinion. The ethos of the early Zionists at the end of the 19th century was that Jews can’t count on anyone else to defend them, so Jews need to be self-reliant. Defending ourselves with words was seen as weak and counterproductive, as evidenced by Golda Meir’s quote in 1969:

“If we have to have a choice between being dead and pitied, and being alive with a bad image, we’d rather be alive and have the bad image.”

It is now 2025, not 1969, and we do not face the choice Golda presented. Being alive requires a good image.

Israel’s Story Matters to Her Security

Israel needs to wake up and realize that while she is winning many military battles, she is simultaneously getting pummeled on the narrative battlefields fought on people’s phones and television screens. These narrative battles are not a side show – they have become an integral part of the overall war Israel is fighting against enemies that are trying to destroy her.

We are losing. Not just losing ground – we are being routed on narrative battlefields while our leaders stand idle. Our enemies coordinate, we fragment. They attack decisively, we defend incoherently. They dominate the information space, we surrender it by default. We need to wake up and take action.

I’ll say it again: This matters. It’s really bad.

And it’s going to get worse. Now that Israel’s enemies have found that they can beat Israel decisively on narrative battlefields, they will only accelerate their attacks. They have discovered a weak point in Israel’s defense.

We Can Win the Narrative Fight– If We Choose To

Israel has agency in this fight. Israel can begin to address this problem if she is strategic, creative and focused – traits that are inherent in the Israeli soul.

With the same prowess she demonstrates with her military capabilities, Israel needs to mount a series of effective campaigns on the narrative battlefields. As Israel defends herself from military attacks, she must defend herself – and then take the offensive – on the narrative battlefields.

But instead of facing the battle of narratives with ingenuity and creative strategies, Israel’s narrative efforts have been handled with a combination of disregard, disinterest, indignation and incompetence.

It’s a Simple Story, So Why Do We Muddle It?

As I’ve written here, Israel needs to communicate, through her actions and her words, that she is only fighting because she has enemies who want to destroy her. Israel is the only country in the world that faces enemies who overtly say they want to destroy it – and then act on those threats. Israel is constantly forced to fight as a valiant defender of her people, her society and her homeland. If she didn’t valiantly defend herself, millions of Israelis would be dead.

But that’s not what the Israeli government and her spokespeople communicate. Israel’s public diplomacy efforts are based on the concept of “hasbara,” which is the Hebrew word for explanation. Israel’s leaders think that their main communication task is to send out a barrage of fragmented explanations.

Hasbara is a very ineffective communication strategy. While Israel is spouting explanations and statistics that land on deaf ears, her enemies are wielding the weapon of information expertly, weaving compelling narratives that encourage people to see Israel as a cruel aggressor, not as a valiant defender.

Only through a unified effort, where Israel’s actions and words blend to demonstrate, unequivocally, that she is a Valiant Defender, can Israel begin to turn the tide on these devastating battlefield losses. I call this unified effort, where Israel acts and talks like a Valiant Defender, Beyond Hasbara.

Going Beyond Hasbara Will Be Difficult for Israel

There is a tension between how Israel needs to be seen in the Middle East and in the West. In the Middle East, where Israel needs to constantly deter brutal, hateful, violent enemies who threaten her existence, she needs to be feared as a tough, invincible neighbor.In the West, Israel needs to be seen as a society that is valiantly defending itself against brutal enemies, while adhering as much as possible to Western moral systems.

And, any sort of unified messaging is tough for Israel; she is a multi-faceted society with much internal division, complicated politics and a people who have suffered significant trauma. It’s unlikely that all of Israel’s politicians and spokespeople can be counted on to communicate that effectively. And, of course, getting Israel’s far-right and messianic leaders to act differently is a major challenge. But every bit of progress will help.

Consider improvements to Israel’s narrative strategy less like an on/off switch and more like a dimmer switch; every bit of improvement will make Israel’s prospects a bit brighter on the information battlefields, improving her standing in the overall war she is fighting for her survival.

It is time for Israel to get a major wake-up call – now, and then start working to defend herself on the all-important narrative battlefields that characterize modern warfare.

Read more about the Valiant Defender Narrative strategy here, and join me in the Beyond Hasbara movement to help Israel win this fight.