Summary
Israel’s global reputation has sharply deteriorated, especially among younger generations, reflecting deeper shifts in how information is consumed and understood in the digital age.
Emotion-driven social media, postmodern skepticism toward objective truth, and coordinated information warfare have combined to flatten complex realities into viral narratives.
Traditional public diplomacy has proven ineffective in this environment, contributing to reputational damage that now affects consumer behavior and public attitudes.
Addressing this challenge requires adapting truth-based messaging to modern media formats, countering disinformation rapidly, and competing effectively in the attention economy.
According to the 2025 Nation Brands Index released in December 2025, Israel ranks last among 50 countries surveyed for the second consecutive year, this time recording a 6.1% drop in its overall score—the steepest single-year decline in the index’s history. The study notes that respondents now direct criticism not just at Israeli government policies but at Israeli people as a whole, viewing them as “toxic”—a finding that may also explain rising antisemitism worldwide.
While this deterioration is attributed to Israel’s military operations following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, the underlying dynamics extend far beyond current events. Israel’s struggling international image reflects fundamental changes in how information is mediated, processed, and understood in the digital age.
The Medium Reshapes the Message
Marshall McLuhan famously proclaimed that “the medium is the message.” Writing in the 1960s, McLuhan argued that the characteristics of any medium fundamentally shape how content is perceived. Each medium alters our “sense ratios”—the balance of how we use our senses to process information. Reading encourages linear thinking; social media scrolling creates rapid, emotional, superficial engagement.
Neil Postman extrapolated upon McLuhan’s theory in his prophetic book Amusing Ourselves to Death. Postman argued that television was fundamentally reshaping public discourse by favoring emotion, imagery, and immediacy over rational, sequential thought. If Postman was right about television, his warnings have become exponentially more urgent in the age of TikTok and Instagram Reels.
The Nation Brands Index data reveals this starkly: Israel’s most pronounced reputation collapse is among those aged 18-24. The “Gen Z” demographic views Israel through an entirely different lens than older generations, who maintain more favorable views. This generational divide reflects a fundamental difference in how information is consumed.
Truth Under Siege
Behind these shifts looms a broader societal crisis. Since the 1970s, postmodernism has fundamentally challenged Western certainty about truth. Michel Foucault examined “regimes of truth”—networks of institutions that determine which statements are valid. Jean-François Lyotard diagnosed skepticism toward “grand narratives” of progress and reason. This intellectual shift birthed disciplines like post-colonialism; Edward Said’s “Orientalism” framework cast Western civilization’s historical narratives as inherently suspect.
Western societies have lost their ability to defend their own truths. “Truth” has been compromised from multiple directions—academic postmodernism on the left, conspiracy theories proliferating on the right, and social media transforming how all knowledge circulates. Political commentator Ben Shapiro, at two December 2025 speeches, attempted to remind conservatives of their foundational commitment to “truth.” At AmericaFest, he said: “Victory without truth is victory for a lie… Our first duty is truth.” His intervention revealed how deeply conspiracy thinking—mirroring postmodernism’s skepticism—has compromised the conservative movement itself.
Generation Z has been born into this convergence: postmodern skepticism toward Western narratives, anti-establishment thinking across the political spectrum, and a media environment that flattens all knowledge into emotional soundbites. Complex historical narratives compress into emotionally charged memes optimized for rapid sharing.
Dr. Irwin Mansdorf’s JCFA surveys demonstrate this empirically: up to 35% of Americans under 45 support Hamas’s false claims, even when explicitly told the source—including among those who claim to support Israel’s right to defend itself. As writer David Samuels observes, “Mass platforms are necessarily purveyors of mass taste—which is inherently hostile to anything that makes large majorities of users feel fat or stupid or poorly mannered or ill-informed.”
The Information War
The misrepresentation of Israel predates social media, which has merely accelerated these distortions. During the 2021 Gaza conflict, JCFA research revealed how The New York Times published articles from Gaza written by stringers operating under Hamas control, systematically omitting Hamas’s extensive underground military infrastructure while emphasizing alleged Israeli aggression.
Russia, China, Iran, Qatar, Turkey, and South Africa have manipulated news and social media to weaken both Israel and the Western alliance. Iran created fake Israeli news websites, recruited Israeli citizens via social media for intelligence operations, and deployed bot networks amplifying anti-Israel narratives. A 2025 Foundation for Defense of Democracies report documented Iran’s elaborate influence operations targeting Israeli society throughout the year following October 7.
China and Russia amplified anti-Israel content through state media and bot networks. Qatar’s Al Jazeera serves as a major platform for anti-Israel messaging. Turkey’s President Erdoğan openly supports Hamas while Turkish social media spreads anti-Israel content.
Consider today’s social media landscape: influencers accumulate millions of followers because of how they look, speak, and make complex topics feel simple—not due to information quality. A 10-minute video explaining nuanced historical context cannot compete with a 30-second emotional appeal. Even systematic takedowns of misinformation with facts appeal primarily to those already seeking depth.
The consequences are material. The Brands Index reveals a de facto boycott of “Made in Israel” products, with significant aversion among younger consumers. This isn’t organized activism—it’s the natural outgrowth of a medium that has associated Israel with chaos and illegitimacy. When emotion is elevated over knowledge, purchasing decisions become moral statements.
Fighting Back: A Strategic Response
Traditional public diplomacy—press releases, official statements, policy explanations—has failed to counter this trend. These tools were designed for a different media environment. Israel cannot win by insisting on deeper engagement with complex realities; the medium won’t allow it.
The path forward requires a coordinated strategy:
- Mobilize Influencers: Engage Jewish and non-Jewish pro-Israel influencers who communicate effectively within the medium’s constraints—visually compelling, emotionally resonant, optimized for virality while maintaining factual accuracy.
- Produce Short-Form Historical Content: Create bite-sized history lessons that educate while entertaining, distilling complex realities into digestible formats without falsifying or oversimplifying.
- Go on Offense: Expose the long-term agendas and double standards of Israel’s adversaries. Document enemy information warfare operations and their coordination with activists.
- Leverage Strategic Podcast Engagement: Reach audiences hungry for deeper understanding while remaining vigilant about bad faith actors.
- Build Rapid Response Capabilities: Counter viral misinformation quickly, before narratives solidify. This requires resources, coordination, and sophisticated understanding of platform algorithms.
- Provide Training and Resources: Support pro-Israel content creators with tools, training, and resources to compete effectively in the attention economy.
Some young influencers are already pioneering this approach, creating engaging content that reaches audiences where they are. This isn’t about abandoning truth—it’s about recognizing that truth must be packaged appropriately for the medium through which it travels.
Conclusion
The Nation Brands Index measures the effects of a media revolution compounded by decades of postmodern assault on Western truth claims and amplified by sophisticated information warfare. The question isn’t whether we approve of this transformation—it’s whether we’re prepared to fight back effectively in the medium where the battle is taking place.
Bibliography
Ben Am, Ari, and Annie Fixler. “Iranian Operation Targets Israeli Academics.” Foundation for Defense of Democracies, November 25, 2025. https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2025/11/25/iranian-operation-targets-israeli-academics/.
Ben David, Lenny. “The Media in the 2021 Gaza War: The New York Times’ Journalistic Malpractice.” Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, July 27, 2021. https://jcpa.org/article/the-media-in-the-2021-gaza-war-the-new-york-times-journalistic-malpractice/.
Foucault, Michel. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977. Edited by Colin Gordon. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980.
“Israel Ranks Last Again in Global Nation Brands Index amid Sharp Perception Decline.” The Jerusalem Post, December 25, 2025. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-881293.
Lyotard, Jean-François. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Translated by Geoff Bennington and Brian Massumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984.
McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964.
Myers, Steven Lee, and Sheera Frenkel. “In a Worldwide War of Words, Russia, China and Iran Back Hamas.” The New York Times, November 3, 2023. Reprinted in The Seattle Times, November 4, 2023. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/in-a-worldwide-war-of-words-russia-china-and-iran-back-hamas/.
Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. New York: Penguin Books, 1985.
“Poll: Up to 35% of Younger Americans Believe Hamas’ Claims.” Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, February 4, 2024. Survey conducted by Dr. Irwin J. Mansdorf. https://jcfa.org/poll-35-of-younger-americans-believe-hamas-claims/.
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978.
Samuels, David. “The Death of Cool.” Tablet Magazine, July 14, 2025. https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/death-of-cool.
Shapiro, Ben. Speech at the Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC, December 17, 2025. Quoted in coverage by The Daily Wire, December 17, 2025.
Shapiro, Ben. Speech at TPUSA AmericaFest, Phoenix, AZ, December 20, 2025. C-SPAN transcript available via Internet Archive.
