Israel's Image Crisis: Becoming Too Big to Spin?

May 16, 2026 · 26 min

About this episode

The episode discusses Israel's intensified PR efforts amid growing criticism over its military actions and settler violence.

As criticism of Israel mounts over its wars on Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, along with the escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank, the country is ramping up its PR offensive. From a carefully managed appearance of Benjamin Netanyahu on CBS’s 60 Minutes to a major expansion of Israel’s Hasbara operation, the push includes pouring money into digital campaigns and media messaging. The goal is to reverse the collapse of public support for Israel, especially in the US, but no amount of spin can make audiences unsee what they have watched in real time. Contributors: Miriyam Aouragh - Professor of digital anthropology, University of Westminster Matt Lieb - Host, Bad Hasbara podcast Emily Schrader - Journalist, ILTV News Oren Ziv - Reporter, Local Call On our radar Israeli officials have dismissed a recent New York Times report on sexual violence against Palestinians as “blood libel”. But while the government denounces the allegations, many of the claims in the report have been openly discussed in the Israeli media. Nicholas Muirhead reports. Zaragoza Data Farms The generative AI boom is prompting a global race to build vast, energy-hungry data centres. In Spain’s Aragon…

People in this episode

Guests: Miriyam Aouragh, Matt Lieb, Emily Schrader, Oren Ziv

Topics covered

Israel's PR efforts
media messaging
public support
settler violence
digital campaigns
Gaza conflict

Keywords

Israel
PR offensive
Benjamin Netanyahu
settler violence
Gaza
media
public support
digital campaigns

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CBS, Hasbara, New York Times

Places: Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, West Bank, Spain, Aragon