The Zionist Psy-warfare: ‘Israel’ Used Fake Accounts During Gaza War
By Al-Ahed News
In a piece entitled ‘Israeli’ Army Conducted Online Psy-op Against ‘Israeli’ Public During Gaza War, Haaretz detailed how the Zionist military used bots and fake social media accounts during May 2021 war on Gaza.
The ‘Israeli’ military spokesperson’s unit conducted a psychological warfare operation against Zionist settlers during the May 2021 campaign in Gaza, the ‘Israeli’ paper noted.
“Israeli” soldiers took to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok and uploaded images and clips of the army’s strikes in Gaza using the hashtag #Gazaregrets with captions such as “Why do they only show ‘Israel’ being attacked instead of our own strikes in Gaza? We have to show everyone how strong we are!” and “Share so that everyone can see how we retaliate big time” or “Making sure Gaza regrets...”
According to Haaretz, this “propaganda campaign” was launched several days into the fighting, after the ‘Israeli’ military Spokesperson’s Unit felt that the ‘Israeli’ public was more impressed by the rocket strikes launched against ‘Israel’ by Gaza than by the ‘Israeli’ military’s actions inside the Strip. According to internal discussions, the unit’s use of fake accounts – “bots” – was meant to prevent its “attribution” to the army. This, the Zionist military hoped, would make it look authentic, as if it originated organically from the public.
To echo the campaign further, the Spokesperson’s Unit discreetly teamed up with two popular ‘Israeli’ Instagram accounts – @idftweets and @pazam_gram – which have hundreds of thousands of followers. On the first day of this campaign, @idftweets shared posts and stories of an ‘Israeli’ military strike with the hashtag #Gazaregrets. The content received hundreds of likes and enthusiastic comments like “kill them all” or “why are any buildings still standing in Gaza?” @pazam_gram followed suit with stories on their accounts.
The Zionist military Spokesperson’s Unit also intended to use social media influencers in order to sway the ‘Israeli’ public opinion.
It is unclear if the Zionist military paid the Instagram account holders for their services, Haaretz said. According to a source familiar with the inner workings of the unit, this is not the only time such cooperation has taken place.
The Campaigns Unit within the department operates as a kind of media office for the Zionist military and organizes internal and external campaigns to raise awareness of the army’s different units and military issues. It was headed at the time by Yuval Horowitz, a settler contracted as a marketing campaigner, who now works for Keshet Media. The unit is staffed by reservists who work as advertisers and designers.
The ‘Israeli’ military had employed for years psychological warfare against its enemies in an attempt to undercut their narratives, influence the population [in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran for example] and tout its operational achievements. A psychological warfare unit was formed in 2005 under the aegis of Military Intelligence. They also tried influencing an enemy’s public discourse to sow uncertainty, undermine the credibility of the ruling power’s messaging and encourage public pressure on their respective leadership. Most of these activities were conducted covertly and relay information intended to serve the Zionist entity in one way or another.
