This is the second of a two-part series. Here, you can read the first part, which details how public relations firms have aided Israel.  ,
The newly launched Christian marketing firm Faith Through Works’ filings reflect Israel’s new focus on public relations.
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Faith Through Works, one of at least three PR firms contracted by Israel to “improve its image in the United States,” states in a document (PDF) that it has been hired to “Combat low American Evangelical Christian approval of the Nation of Israel.
Polls indicate that Israel is losing ground in comparison to the US evangelical base. According to surveys from the University of Maryland and others, wide-spread protests in US cities and colleges have indicated that Israel is losing support among Gen Z, its allies in mainstream US politics, and among its evangelical righties.
And, according to analysts, that poses a serious problem for Israel.
Israel has enlisted the assistance of Bridges Partners to raise awareness of Israel in the US by using Faith Through Works and obtaining funding from an undisclosed group of online influencers. In an effort to improve its online reputation, it has also contracted another newly established US company, Clock Tower, to reshape the way Israeli-Israeli military discussions are framed using artificial intelligence (AI).
The University of Maryland’s Shibley Telhami said, “The war for American public opinion is existential.” The gloves are off because this is a serious game for them, they say.
Israelis have been dependent on the US for the past two years, according to the report. That is to say, almost everyone in their country was aware of their dependence on the US prior to the war, but not in what ways. He explains how Israelis have watched their nation’s dependence on the US increase with each new front their government has launched against regional allies like Lebanon and Iran.
Before you even consider the US’s “simple diplomatic power,” he said, “which has been extremely helpful in keeping Israel safe throughout the war, and the potential loss of that is terrifying to them.”
losing support
The US public has largely suported Israel’s economic, military, and reputational costs. However, cracks are emerging in US support for Israel amid the scenes of unrelenting carnage that Israel continues to unleash on Gaza, which many Israelis fear could eventually develop.
Israel’s support in the US has not recently been bolstered. Foreign journalists are prohibited from entering Gaza to capture the full extent of the barbaric acts committed against the enclave, but there are also concerted efforts to turn the online discussion in Israel’s favor.
A coordinated effort was made in May to influence how social media users were describing Israel’s occupation of Gaza, according to a survey conducted by the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the importance of social media in his conversation with US influencers in September.
Netanyahu referred to social media as the “weapon” of the modern era, saying that TikTok is the most significant purchase currently being made. One hundred and one. And I hope it succeeds because it has potential.”
“And the other one,” you ask? X. We need to speak with owner of X, Elon Musk. He is a friend, not an adversary. He needs to speak with us. Now, if we can get those two things, we can get a lot. We must now engage in combative action to guide both our non-Jewish friends and the Jewish people.
I had the honor of posing a query to Bibi Netanyahu about the possible loss of evangelical support for the state of Israel following Charlie Kirk’s murder. pic. https://twitter.com/XP2faZQa0N
According to Dov Waxman, professor of Israel studies at the University of California, “there was less support for Israel and greater sympathy for Palestinians among younger Americans, including young evangelical Christians.” “These important groups have significantly lost faith in Israel because of Israel’s actions during the conflict in Gaza,” the statement reads.
This is confirmed by Telhami’s polls.
A University of Maryland survey (PDF) of the party’s support for Palestinians revealed that older Democrats now have more influence over the party’s support for Israel, and that older Republicans now have a bigger influence over their party’s support for Israel. A separate poll (PDF) conducted over the same time that revealed growing opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza among young evangelicals, one of Israel’s most trusted supporters, poses a potential greater threat to Israeli policymakers and aids in explaining the contracting of Faith Through Works.
In MAGA, there is a shift.
The mainstream politics in the US are starting to suffer as a result of this split, and especially President Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. One of the loudest voices in that movement, Marjorie Taylor Greene, fought back in July in opposition to a bill that would have awarded Israel $500 million over the course of the following year.
Greene wrote on the social media platform X that “Nuclear-armed Israel’s national debt is under $400 billion in comparison to our crippling national debt of $ 37 trillion.” According to the statement, “The American taxpayers shouldn’t be required to pay the American taxpayers for another $500 million in our U.S. defense bill because Nuclear-armed Israel appears to have their defense and debt under control.”
There’s only one story going on, and it’s Israel, according to Tucker Carlson, a well-known MAGA figure who in October described Christian Zionists as “heretics” on his YouTube channel the same month. “We are spending our time, our money, and we’re taking enormous risks on behalf of a country that is not politically significant at all,” Carlson said.
I don’t think American taxpayers should be responsible for funding Israel’s wars or any other nation’s wars, which is what I’ve done.
I’m not going to change my mind.
What will you do next, then, I’m left wondering.
The entire world is watching. https://t.co/q2MHv7rKHl
There is a strong trend in MAGA’s “America First” contingent, he said, citing Carlson and right-wing influencer Candace Owens as examples. “The US Republican leadership is still solidly behind Israel, and that’s not likely to change in this Trump administration,” said HA Hellyer of the Royal United Services Institute.
He praised Israel’s prospects for future support from the US right, noting that it will not fundamentally change policy in this administration.
Telhami remarked that there is being “a significant generational shift.” The Gaza generation, which views Israel as a genocidal villain, is now the same as the Pearl Harbor generation and the Vietnam generation.
