Millions of dollars are spent by the Israeli Foreign Ministry to bolster its account of the Gaza War.

 The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spent more than $8 million on propaganda in Europe to support its narrative about the war it is waging against Gaza following the launch of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” on October 7, while the Palestinian narrative was not received. With any propaganda to show the massacre committed by the occupation army against the Palestinian people to world public opinion.

According to Google's advertising transparency website, the Israeli Foreign Ministry chose YouTube to publish about 100 propaganda clips to promote the Israeli narrative, which mostly links the Hamas movement with terrorism and insists that the Palestinian resistance is the same as the Islamic State on more than one occasion.

According to the estimated data provided by the Simarch website, the volume of advertising on the YouTube platform alone amounted to more than $8 million, and the appearance of these advertising clips was concentrated in 3 countries, as follows:

France was the highest spending country with $4.6 million, and the number of trailers there was viewed more than 535 million times.

In Germany, the volume of spending amounted to $2.4 million, and the impressions on the YouTube platform were more than 284 million times.

In the United Kingdom, the amount of spending reached $1.2 million, and the number of appearances of trailers reached more than 250 million times.

There are other countries - whether in Europe or outside it - where the volume of spending was low, representing $0.3 million, as well as the number of impressions, which amounted to about 43 million in these countries combined.

To clarify the size of Israeli spending on advertising - according to the previous figures - it can be compared to Amazon, which is one of the largest advertisers in the whole world, as it spent in France alone on the YouTube platform, and within approximately 30 days. About 5.6 million dollars. While the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spent on the YouTube platform alone also amounted to $4.6 million, according to data provided by the Simarch website.

When analyzing the propaganda clips published by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the YouTube platform since October 7, they are all similar in their message to the European public, and include 4 main messages:

Linking Hamas to terrorism, there is almost no passage without describing the movement as terrorism, classifying it as a terrorist organization, in addition to describing it as ISIS.

Intimidating the world that Hamas’ activities will not stop at Israel’s borders, but will expand to include the entire world.

Each trailer concludes with a straightforward statement: “Stand with Israel.”

Using pictures of children and the elderly to influence the public mood and give legitimacy to the killing, demolition, and bombing carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

What was striking about these numbers was the choice of specific countries to spread the Israeli narrative (France, Germany, and the United Kingdom) about what is happening in the Gaza Strip, to guide public opinion in these countries. And what followed from the media, which initially adopted this narrative, publicly bypassing the professional controls and neutrality with which it was described; Thus influencing any political decision issued by the governments of these countries, and all of this translates into military and political support and UN resolutions in favor of the Israeli occupation, in addition to blocking the narrative that documents the massacres committed by the Israeli killing machine against the Palestinian people.

In the face of this propaganda and media machine driven by the various arms of the Israeli occupation, not a single dollar was spent on Palestinian content to show the scale of destruction, killing, and violence practiced by the occupation army against the Palestinians.

What is more, many activists on social media sites had their pages blocked, restricted, or banned for trying to show the falsity of the Israeli narrative and the extent to which it misleads world public opinion, or even just sympathize with what is happening in the Gaza Strip after the atrocities committed by the occupation, including the killing of thousands of children and women and the bombing. Hospitals and entire neighborhoods were wiped out.

The argument that these platforms rely on when blocking Palestinian content is either because it is shocking and includes scenes containing violence, human remains, and blood; Therefore, it becomes inappropriate content, according to their classification, or the accusation of “terrorism” is attached to anyone who adopts the narrative that shows the truth of the conflict, its causes, and its repercussions on Palestine. People and land.

Source: Al Jazeera + websites