Apparently, the leading feelings in Israel at the moment – shock, horror, heartbreak and compassion – aren’t universal.
As a quick scroll through social media demonstrates, many around the world are slamming Israel’s response to the attacks and even questioning the veracity of the atrocities carried out by Hamas.
To combat this phenomenon, which has left Israelis reeling and Jewish communities abroad concerned over anti-Semitism, masses of people have taken to social media platforms to set things straight.
One prominent keyboard warrior is Yoseph Haddad, a veteran Arab Israeli advocate of Israel on social media. He’s been regularly posting in English, Hebrew and Arabic, trying to counter anti-Israel propaganda, showcase the bravery of soldiers and civilians and highlight the plight of the Israeli hostages in Gaza.
“Any professional would know it’s impossible to reliably and officially determine responsibility for the bombing of the hospital after only 5 minutes!” he tweeted following news of the bombing of a Gaza hospital, which turned out to be caused by a failed rocket launched in Gaza by Islamic Jihad.
“Hamas, however, established within 5 minutes that it was Israel without documentation or facts. They spread the lie and the narrative against Israel to the world, and what’s sad is the world’s top media outlets cooperated with the terrorist organization Hamas without checking or verifying the information!” Haddad continued.
“The hand of Palestinian terrorism is quick on the trigger, and the hand of the world media is quick on the keyboard!”
While Haddad is one of the leading Israeli keyboard warriors – with over 150,000 followers on X and almost half a million on Facebook – he’s not alone. Adiel Cohen, for example, who goes by “Adiel of Israel,” has been busy posting informed videos counteracting Hamas propaganda, while Hen Mazzig, with his 165,000 followers on Instagram, has been highlighting the plight of the Israeli hostages kidnapped to Gaza.
Another influencer is Mohammad Kabiya, a leading Israeli Bedouin figure, who has been sharing with his thousands of followers the bravery of soldiers from all parts of Israeli society and calling out Arabic-language reporting of the war. And of course, no mention can be made of online influencers advocating for Israel without mentioning Noa Tishby, the actor-turned-envoy has been lauding Israel over every stage, in real life and on social media, garnering remarkable attention and respect wherever she goes.