Israel has embarked on a sweeping $145 million global campaign to counter mounting international criticism and reshape public opinion, particularly in the United States, by leveraging generative artificial intelligence platforms and social media influencers. According to documents filed with the U.S. Department of Justice and reported by outlets such as Ynetnews and Sludge, this initiative marks one of Israel’s most ambitious public diplomacy campaigns since the Gaza war began, reflecting both the scale of the challenge and the urgency felt by Israeli officials as support among younger Americans continues to erode.
The campaign, coordinated by Israel’s Government Advertising Bureau and executed by Havas Media Network, is designed with a laser focus on Generation Z. At least 80% of its content is tailored for platforms popular among younger audiences—TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and podcasts. The target? An eye-popping 50 million monthly impressions, a figure that dwarfs typical digital outreach benchmarks and underscores the high stakes involved.
Driving this digital blitz is Clock Tower X LLC, a U.S.-based firm led by Brad Parscale, former campaign manager for Donald Trump and current chief strategy officer of Salem Media Group. Parscale’s firm was contracted on September 18, 2025, for a $6 million deal running through the end of the year, with funding split between Havas and matching contributions from Clock Tower. The contract tasks Parscale’s team with producing at least 100 root creative assets each month—ranging from videos and graphics to audio and written materials—and generating 5,000 monthly variants. The majority of this content is crafted specifically for Gen Z platforms, aiming to deliver pro-Israel messaging at a cost of less than $2 per thousand paid impressions.
But the campaign’s ambitions go far beyond traditional digital marketing. Among its most controversial and technologically novel features is a concerted effort to influence how generative AI systems—such as ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and X’s Grok—respond to queries about Israel and related topics. The filings describe plans to build “websites and content to provide GPT framing results in GPT conversations,” attempting to shape the data that feeds large language models and, by extension, how these AI systems present or frame issues involving Israel. As Gadi Evron, CEO and co-founder of the Israeli cybersecurity firm Nostick, explained to Ynetnews, “Just like SEO maps which websites shape search results, GEO maps which sources influence AI responses. It’s a new field, and some call it GEO for GenAI, but the terminology is still developing.”
This approach, often dubbed “Generative Engine Optimization” (GEO), mirrors the strategies long used in search engine optimization but is now being adapted for the AI era. The goal is clear: ensure that pro-Israel perspectives are not only visible on social media but also embedded in the foundational knowledge of AI systems that millions rely on for information.
The campaign’s origins are rooted in a period of intensifying scrutiny. A Gallup poll published in July 2025 found that only 9% of Americans aged 18 to 34 support Israel’s military campaign in Gaza—a stark indicator of waning support among younger demographics. Another survey commissioned by Israel’s Foreign Ministry found that 47% of Americans believe Israel is committing genocide, further highlighting the scale of the public relations challenge. In this context, the Israeli government’s decision to allocate 545 million shekels ($145 million) to media outreach in 2025—dubbed Project 545—reflects both the seriousness of the threat and the willingness to invest heavily in countering it.
The campaign is not without controversy. Just weeks before the new contracts were signed, the Democratic-linked PR firm SKDKnickerbocker abruptly ended its $600,000 contract with Israel’s Foreign Ministry following public backlash over its plans to develop a “bot army” to amplify pro-Israel messaging on social media. The project, which reportedly included promoting stories about the Bibas family—whose relatives were kidnapped in Gaza—was criticized for exploiting a family tragedy for paid advocacy. SKDK denied carrying out the bot work and stated only that “the work has concluded.”
In the wake of SKDK’s departure, Israel moved quickly to fill the gap, registering three new American agents in late September 2025 to handle its U.S. influence operations. These contracts, totaling at least $10 million, emphasize not just AI and digital ad targeting but also the recruitment of social media influencers and integration of messaging into properties run by Salem Media Group, a major player in conservative Christian broadcasting.
Influencer recruitment has become a central pillar of the strategy. Under a parallel initiative called Project Esther, the Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister’s Office are expanding outreach through U.S.-based influencers, who are expected to publish 25 to 30 posts per month across platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Bridges Partners LLC, a Delaware company founded in June by Israeli strategists Uri Steinberg and Yair Levy, was contracted to oversee this effort, with agreements allowing payments of up to $900,000 and a potential monthly budget of $250,000. Influencers can earn anywhere from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars for their participation, and contracts cover not just content production but also legal advice, analytics, and professional distribution support.
The scale and significance of this influencer push were highlighted on October 1, 2025, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with a group of pro-Israel digital creators at the Israeli Consulate in New York. Among the attendees were Lizzy Savetsky, Ari Ackerman, and Zach Sage Fox, all of whom have built substantial online followings advocating for Israel. During the meeting, Netanyahu underscored the importance of social media, declaring, “We have to fight back. How do we fight? With influencers. They’re very important.” He went on to describe the online arena as “Israel’s eighth front,” placing it alongside military, economic, and political challenges. In a controversial moment, Netanyahu compared “woke culture” to Nazism and called for greater investment in TikTok and cooperation with Elon Musk, whom he sees as a key ally in the digital arena.
Reaction to the influencer meeting was swift and divided. Some social media users accused the participants of insensitivity, as families of Israeli hostages were protesting outside the consulate at the same time. Others argued that Jewish voices online were essential to counter rising antisemitism. Influencer Shay Sabo, who attended the meeting, defended the effort, saying, “The purpose was to strengthen Jewish advocacy, not replace the families’ struggle,” and added, “What we need now is unity, not mutual blame.”
This campaign, with its unprecedented blend of AI, influencer marketing, and targeted digital outreach, represents a new frontier in public diplomacy. Whether it will succeed in reversing Israel’s declining support among young Americans—and how it will shape the broader information ecosystem—remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: the battle for hearts and minds is increasingly being fought not just on the ground, but across the digital and algorithmic landscapes that shape modern public opinion.
