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Hasbara (Hebrew: הַסְבָּרָה, meaning "explaining") is Zionist propaganda, information warfare and psyop aimed at international audiences.[1] In addition to the Zionist government, private groups such as Christians United for Israel and StandWithUs are involved.[2][3]
History[edit | edit source]
The Ministry of Hasbara was established in 1974 with future Israeli prime minister and president Shimon Peres as its leader. It was dissolved the next year, and the Foreign Affairs Ministry is now in charge of hasbara.[2]
Current situation[edit | edit source]
In 2002, the former Israeli Minister of Education Shulamit Aloni expressed that antisemitism and the Holocaust are frequently used to silence dissent toward Israel's policies. "When from Europe someone is criticizing Israel then we bring up the Holocaust. When in [the US] people are criticizing Israel then they are antisemitic."[4]
In 2010, two Israeli groups, Yesha Council and My Israel, launched a course to teach participants how to edit Wikipedia articles to ensure that what is written on Israel is "Zionist in nature."[5][6]
In 2011, the popular Israeli based +972 Magazine stated "Israeli advocacy is probably the most widespread and ambitious state-run propaganda effort in the world today."[3] This same year, Arutz Sheva conducted an interview that revealed the existence of the IDF New-Media Desk, a team of soldiers dedicated to online information warfare and the dissemination of Zionist propaganda in social media. "Our goal is to provide as much information online as possible... New-Media is a new medium in order to disseminate information" said the co-founder and commander of the team. The team is located in the international communications department of the IDF Spokesperson unit. All the members of the IDF New-Media Desk are English speakers and many of them are new immigrants to Israel.[7][8] This team can reach up to 100,000 volunteers on social media networks, as well as many bloggers.[3]
In 2015, the Zionist Education Ministry started requiring all high school students to take hasbara courses before traveling abroad on school trips.[2]
In 2017, Israel launched their official hasbara app, also known as Act.IL (also Act-IL)[9][10]. The launch was announced by then-Minister of Strategic Affairs, Gilad Erdan, during an event connected to New York's annual Celebrate Israel parade. The app was developed as part of the 4IL ("For Israel") digital campaign, which aimed to provide tools for pushing back on articles and social media posts critical of Israel and supportive of the boycott movement, targeting boycotts, justifying Israeli oppression, going after human rights groups and activists, promoting Israeli technology and culture, and criticizing Israeli conscientious objectors.[11] Act.IL was shut down in March 2022[12], less than a year after the Strategic Affairs Ministry, which led the government's charge against the boycott movement, was folded into the Foreign Ministry.[11]
In November 2023, the Israeli Finance Ministry boosted wartime hasbara budget by 63 million NIS (16.7 million USD). As part of the extra budget, the Foreign Ministry will receive 10 million NIS (2.7 million USD), as well as 20 million NIS (5.3 million USD) from the Diaspora Affairs Ministry. A further 33 million NIS (8.7 million USD) will be allocated to supporting civilian organizations that have been working on hasbara throughout the genocide on the Palestinian people after October 7th.[13]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ TRT World. "The art of deception: How Israel uses ‘hasbara’ to whitewash its crimes" TRT World. Archived from the original on 2024-02-02.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Jessica Buxbaum (2023-05-11). "Israel's Latest Hasbara Scheme Enlists High School Students as Trolls against Palestine" MintPress News. Archived from the original on 2023-07-05.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Noam Sheizaf (2011-11-13). "Hasbara: Why does the world fail to understand us?" +972 Magazine. Archived from the original on 2024-04-26.
- ↑ Democracy Now (2002-08-14), Israel’s First Lady of Human Rights: A Conversation with Shulamit Aloni, video, 50.59. Archived from the original on 2024-24-04
- ↑ Israel National News - Arutz Sheva (Aug 18, 2010). "Course: Zionist Editing on Wikipedia". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2024-03-17..
- ↑ Rachel Shabi and Jemima Kiss (2010). "Wikipedia editing courses launched by Zionist groups" The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2024-02-08.
- ↑ Yoni Kempinski (2011-02-16). "IDF Facebook-Twitter Commando" Arutz Sheva. Archived from the original on 2024-02-05.
- ↑ Israel National News - Arutz Sheva (2011-02-17). "Meet the IDF Facebook-Twitter Commando". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2024-04-28..
- ↑ App Store (2021-12-01). "Act-IL" Archived from the original on 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
- ↑ Act-IL (2019-03-17). "Upgrade your Israel Activism - Intro to the New Act-IL App". YouTube.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Natasha Roth-Rowland (2022-04-25). "Mission failed: How Israel’s anti-BDS app went belly-up" 972Magazine. Archived from the original on 2024-04-26. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
- ↑ Michael Arria (2022-03-11). "Israel pulls the plug on its anti-BDS app — ‘a failure from the start’" Mondoweiss. Archived from the original on 2022-03-11. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
- ↑ Ariella Marsden (2023-11-26). "Finance Ministry boosts wartime hasbara budget by NIS 63 million" The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 2024-06-25. Retrieved 2024-07-02.