Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has launched a new initiative at the Foreign Ministry, unveiling a dedicated “media war room” designed to track and counteract online anti-Israel activity, his office announced.
This specialized unit, composed of diplomats and students with expertise in international communication, monitors roughly 250 news sources and analyzes around 10,000 daily news items related to Israel. The Foreign Ministry described its function as one that “identifies false or biased reports…and acts swiftly by deploying Israeli and pro-Israel spokespersons to debunk accusations and present Israel’s narrative.”
In recent weeks, during its initial trial phase, the war room played a key role in uncovering and responding to a BBC documentary about children in Gaza. According to the Foreign Ministry, it was “the first” in Israel “to detect… and act against” the film, which was later revealed to have been narrated by the son of a senior Hamas official in Gaza.
Following intelligence gathered by the war room, the Israeli Embassy in London intervened with the BBC to raise concerns about the documentary’s credibility.
Subsequently, investigative journalist David Collier publicly exposed the links between individuals featured in the film and the Hamas leadership. Speaking to The Times of Israel last week, Collier shared that he had identified Abdullah—the documentary’s narrator and central figure—as the son of a Hamas deputy minister within five hours of the documentary airing.
In response to the revelations, the BBC has since taken the documentary off its platforms, issued an official apology, and now faces a criminal investigation over allegations that funds used in the production may have been transferred to Hamas.
Seeking to enhance Israel’s presence in the global media landscape, Sa’ar or other senior Foreign Ministry officials are now holding weekly press briefings with leading international news organizations, the ministry stated.
Additionally, the Foreign Ministry has developed a “network of pro-Israel influencers and spokespersons” to push back against misinformation on social media and other digital spaces. Plans are also in place for “additional projects” aimed at addressing media bias against Israel in the coming months.
The war in Gaza, which erupted following Hamas’s large-scale cross-border assault on October 7, 2023, has significantly damaged Israel’s image in the United States and around the world. That attack saw thousands of terrorists kill approximately 1,200 people—most of them civilians—and abduct 251 hostages.
Israel’s military operation, which seeks to dismantle Hamas’s control over Gaza and secure the release of the hostages, has since led to widespread destruction in the coastal enclave.
These latest Foreign Ministry initiatives come after Sa’ar’s announcement last November, shortly after assuming office, that the ministry’s budget for international public diplomacy would be increased by NIS 545 million ($146 million).
At the time, Sa’ar emphasized that these efforts would be coordinated with the US Jewish community and would not interfere with the responsibilities of the Diaspora Ministry.
{Matzav.com Israel}
