On April 12, 1945, General Dwight D. Eisenhower saw the horrors of the Nazi Concentration Camps for the first time with his own eyes at Ohrdruf. “I felt it my duty to be in a position from then on to testify first-hand about these things in case there ever grew up at home the belief or assumption that the stories of Nazi brutality were just propaganda… I felt that the evidence should be immediately placed before the American and British publics in a fashion that would leave no room for cynical doubt,” Eisenhower shared in his memoirs Crusade in Europe.
Eisenhower could have never imagined the extent to which the horrors of war can now be meticulously documented, from firsthand accounts minute by minute, but also the abundance of cynical doubt that can exist as the world continues to dismiss the brutal nature of Hamas as propaganda. The role of the war on public relations, through technological advancement and the implementation of social media can share instantaneous information and misinformation, to the global community.
Ayelet Frish, CEO of Frish Strategic Consulting Ltd. and leading international strategic adviser provides commentary on the implications and utilization of the recent images circulating the world and their impact on the psychological warfare of the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.
IDF Military Operation Updates
IDF ground troops, including battalion forces and special ops units, are operating in one of Israel’s key military targets – the Hamas terrorism command and control center located underneath the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City – in a complex, focused, and targeted operation. As has been well documented, Hamas systematically uses hospitals and civilian complexes, and the innocent civilians in them, as protective shields for its terrorism machine, building its terror apparatus inside, underneath, and adjacent to these structures. The IDF has curated the Al Shifa operation tactfully and carefully to avoid harm to Gazans who are being used as human shields by Hamas.
The IDF transferred incubators from Israeli hospitals into Al Shifa as part of the humanitarian aid coming into Gaza. More than 1,000 trucks containing about 15,000 tons of aid have entered the Gaza Strip thus far.
Israel’s defense forces have struck over 15,000 targets from the air, destroyed over 300 terror tunnel shafts, and seized 6,000 weapons on the ground, and its intelligence forces continue working diligently to demilitarize Hamas and get our 239 hostages back safely.
The Use of Media in Psychological Warfare
The precision of Israel’s airstrikes, multifaceted ground offenses, and high-quality intelligence reconnaissance have all marked a very successful week as Israel continues to target Hamas strongholds within Gaza City. The impact of images that have emerged of IDF activities from within Gaza clearly show the strength of Israel’s operation, but also their ability to be weaponized by Hamas and its supporters in the war of public opinion.
This highlights the nature of social media which Israel is using to date information of what is happening on the ground, but also how Hamas hijacks it to disseminate fake news and misinformation. This can be seen most notably this week through the image published by the IDF of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, taken in Hamas’s parliament building this week, which epitomizes the success of the IDF’s ground operation and its perversion used against Israel.
The immense power of this single image is validated by the refusal of Palestinian news agencies and many other official Arab media sources to publicly show this picture, as it damages the perception of Hamas’s power, but has still managed to circulate on Arab social media.
Frish assesses that anti-Israel activists are spreading this image to feel involved in the conflict, falsely utilizing the image to assert that Israel’s goal is the dismantling of Palestinian democracy and further sowing dissent about Israel’s true intentions to eliminate the threat of Hamas against the State of Israel and its people. While Israel’s opponents will weaponize and pervert the nature of images like this, there is no ambiguity about the IDF’s intentions to publish it for the world to see.
“This is one of the most impactful photos taken from the war,” explains Frish, noting that the Golani Brigade suffered heavy casualties at the onset of the war, “This is what you would call a hold on symbols of power. This image demonstrates the depth to which the IDF has infiltrated Gaza and the weakening of Hamas’s control.” Israel’s publication of the Golani brigade was done with the intent to boost morale and show strength, and despite the best efforts of Israel’s adversaries to spread doubt of Israel’s intentions, Frish believes that the photo itself overpowers any attempt to weaponize it.
Frish further demonstrates the difference between how Israel and Hamas wage their war in the media through the horrific video of IDF Corporal Noa Marciano, who was abducted on October 7th, reciting the name of her parents and hometown just before cutting to a clip displaying her lifeless body. Although there is no confirmation of how she died or if she was executed by Hamas, the agenda of the terrorist organization is clear. “They want to spread fear, confusion and to divide us,” Frish explains, emphasizing the brutal use of this video as a form of psychological warfare, “They are trying to emotionally manipulate Israel, especially the families of the hostages, to put pressure on Israel’s decision makers, primarily Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Galant, to cease its ground offensive in Gaza and to weaken our military forces.”
Israeli media made a joint decision not to publish the video to combat the attempts at emotional manipulation, but Frish feels that the world does need to see this, to expose the horrors of Hamas that many continue to deny or refuse to condemn. The decision of Israel to respect Noa Marciano and her family, as well as the way that it utilizes its imagery for messages and strength and power, rather than the appalling psychological warfare employed by its enemies further emphasizes the morality of Israel’s government and military as they continue their campaign against Hamas.
IDF Spokesperson Descends into Hamas Terror Tunnels
Frish credits the head of the IDF Spokespersons Unit, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari, the first combat commander to hold the spokesperson position, as a huge asset in exposing, firsthand, the horrors of Hamas’s underground terror tunnels beneath Gaza’s largest civilian center. Hagar, himself, joined the elite Shayetet 13 commando unit, where he served until 2021, in uncovering indisputable proof of the sheer crimes against humanity committed by Hamas against its own people, which much of the world had continued to deny.
Speaking in English to the news media accompanying the IDF on the ground in Gaza City, Hagari provided groundbreaking evidence of the extensive network of terror tunnels just beneath the Al Rantisi Hospital, weapons caches stored in the basement, and reasonable proof of a location that Hamas has been holding Israeli hostages, demonstrating the significant danger that Hamas is inflicting upon its own wounded who were being treated just above.
Providing to the foreign press the documentation, maps, and clear evidence, including baby bottles and toys found in the underground tunnel system, Hagari further demonstrates to the global media the inevitability of the ongoing war, which Frish attributes to the new evidence exposing the true evil nature of Hamas. “The efforts of the IDF Spokesperson Unit have been instrumental and should be an example of combatting the psychological war that parallels the military operation, the war of public opinion and influence.” While Israel’s critics will continue to deny the crimes against humanity committed by Hamas against the Palestinian people, Hagari has provided clear evidence, supported by witness accounts of major foreign press agencies, that should at least sow doubt of Hamas’s value of human life among even Israel’s most critical skeptics. Even though top US officials have corroborated long-held Israel’s position that Hamas operated from within civilian populations, anti-Israel netizens and even public figures continue to remain ignorant of the evidence presented this week, unveiling Hamas’s use of its weakest citizens as human shields.
The Documented Horrors of Terrorism
Despite President Eisenhower’s hesitation to share the horrors he witnessed at the Nazi concentration camps, the mountains of corpses, charred human remains, and evidence of torture, atrocities the mind could not fathom, he felt that it was his responsibility to capture and distribute those images as the most effective way to fight the Nazis and create new world order. The United States resorted to the same methods when confronting the savagery of ISIS, distributing the horrific videos of the beheadings, despite the pain it caused, to the media for publication and providing legitimacy to destroy ISIS. The brutal attack of Hamas on October 7th has joined the ranks of some of the most horrific images of human savagery in history, with Hamas itself proudly publishing the videos and bodycam footage, yet the world continues to doubt or deny the extent of these egregious actions.
Like Eisenhower and the United States, Frish concludes that Israel has no choice but to resort to the public distribution of the evidence and footage gathered to show the world the legitimacy of the war it is waging against an enemy that knows no limits. “A top Israeli official, be it the President, IDF Chief of Staff, or IDF Spokesperson, must hold a worldwide media event. They should gather the over 1,000 foreign journalists currently in Israel- including from the most important and influential media outlets in the world- and formally show them the raw evidence, including videos, photos, and body camera images from the terrorists,” Frish states firmly, adding that there is an immense amount of material from the terrorists and IDF soldiers on October 7th, “There are dozens of international forensic pathologists currently in Israel who have helped identify the bodies and provide forensic evidence of the massacre. We must show this evidence to the world.” More importantly, these media outlets and journalists should not just see the evidence but have a responsibility to distribute it themselves for the whole world to see.
The horrific 40-minute film produced by the IDF has proven to be a powerful tool to unveil the true face of Hamas’s evil, but it cannot stand alone. It is being shown to a select few, behind closed doors, and there is no access for the broader audience. Israel is losing valuable time and calling for a public press conference to show and distribute it is critical to create legitimacy in the public arena for Israel’s war.
Alone, Israel lacks the organic and technological infrastructure to combat the media war, with just over 15 million Jews and more than two billion Muslims living around the world. Even taking into account that many may support the other side in this conflict, the disproportionate number of pro-Israel advocates is frighteningly low. Israel is fighting a two-front war a military war along its southern border, and a media war against the entire world with adversaries in both who do not adhere to the same rules of engagement.
Frish adds that it is also essential for Israel to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in expanding its online distribution through sources like Outbrain, Google, and Facebook, like many other countries. Additionally, Israel must also invest in developing a strong social media infrastructure to quash the spread of misinformation and increase its online media presence, especially with such a small number of active users on its side compared to Hamas, the Iranian Axis, and their supporters throughout the world.
It is incumbent upon the State of Israel to invest heavily in combating the psychological warfare taking place across digital and traditional media, the lasting effects of which will continue to wage on long after the military war is over.