Spinning genocide: How is Israel using US PR firms to frame its Gaza war?

Israel has contracted astatine slightest 3 nationalist relations companies to bolster its representation online and among the United States’ Christian right, filings nether the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) show.

According to US Department of Justice records, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs hired the recently established Bridges Partners, the Christian PR bureau Show Faith by Works, and the online consultancy Clock Tower X via the European Havas Media Group.

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All of the companies contracted committedness to assistance bolster the country’s online representation and reconstruct support among young right-wing and Evangelical US voters that polling suggests is haemorrhaging arsenic a effect of Israel’s warfare connected Gaza.

Israel is acutely conscious of the request to power however its war, successful which it has killed much than 68,000 Palestinians, is perceived by its allies and sponsors successful the US.

A survey of Israel’s online enactment published by the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies successful May recovered a coordinated societal media run to sway planetary sympathies successful its favour passim the conflict, which began successful October 2023.

But portion Israel was capable to garner favourable sum from accepted US media outlets successful the aboriginal months of the war, it was losing the conflict connected societal media, wherever videos revealing the wide sidesplitting and devastation successful Gaza were going viral, and generating sympathy for the Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recognised this, referring to societal media arsenic a “weapon” successful Israel’s run to enactment up enactment successful the US – and saying that the acquisition of TikTok by a consortium led by pro-Israel billionaires was a “most important purchase”.

I had the grant of asking Bibi Netanyahu astir Charlie Kirk’s assassination & the imaginable nonaccomplishment of evangelical enactment for the authorities of Israel. pic.twitter.com/XP2faZQa0N

— Debra Lea (@thedebralea) September 26, 2025

Each of the PR companies contracted done Havas promises a caller attack successful that campaign, targeting cardinal demographics, spiritual groups and adjacent the mode the warfare is discussed online.

Keeping faith

According to its FARA filing, Show Faith by Works has been hired by Israel to tally a $3.2m outreach and integer targeting run to foster “positive associations with the Nation of Israel” successful churches successful the US and represent “the Palestinian population” arsenic “extremist”.

In documents enclosed successful the FARA filing, Show Faith by Works besides promises Israel that it volition behaviour “the largest Geofencing and Christian Targeting run successful US history”.

Geofencing targets and tracks the connection devices of users erstwhile they travel into proximity of a circumstantial determination oregon country – successful this case, Christian universities oregon churches identified by the PR company.

The institution is besides readying what it calls a mobile “10/7 Experience” – referring to the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led onslaught connected Israel – which could beryllium taken to Christian colleges, churches, and events.

According to the filings, the acquisition would see a “VR headset, acceptable pieces, full-length TVs for interactive experience” of the attack, during which 1,139 people were killed and astir 250 taken captive.

The institution details that it tin besides connection the information of “Christian Celebrity Spokespeople” specified arsenic actors Chris Pratt and Jon Voight – the second an outspoken protagonist of US President Donald Trump.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a thumbs-up arsenic helium acknowledges cheers from tens of thousands of Christians connected October 5 [Reuters]

Rewriting the present

Clock Tower claims successful its FARA filing that it has been engaged to link with the Gen Z property demographic done societal media platforms similar YouTube, TikTok and Instagram and to prosecute with artificial quality (AI) platforms specified arsenic ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok. The activities officially purpose to “combat anti-Semitism” – a word often deployed by the Israeli authorities to antagonistic disapproval of its genocidal warfare connected Gaza.

In its filing, Clock Tower promises to usage AI modelling to guarantee that the Israeli-supervised run – and by hold narratives – are salient online during the people of its warfare connected Gaza.

“If you tin make capable online noise, done either societal media oregon highly ranked websites, you’re capable to power AI’s ample connection models [like ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok],” said Marc Owen Jones, an subordinate prof of media analytics and an adept successful disinformation astatine Northwestern University Qatar.

“LLMs [large connection models] are trained connected a acceptable magnitude of data, wherever they scrape ample amounts of [historical] information. However, galore models specified arsenic Grok, ChatGPT oregon Gemini usage what they telephone retrieval-augmented procreation (RAG), wherever they besides propulsion modern information from websites and societal media,” Jones said.

“What companies similar Clock Tower X are promising is that, if they tin flood the accusation abstraction with sites and contented sympathetic to Israel – what’s called RAG poisoning –  there’ll beryllium capable determination to astatine slightest muddy the waters astir what others spot arsenic a clear-cut genocide.”

The logos of xAI and Grok are seen successful this illustration taken February 16, 2025 [Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters]

Clock Tower, headed by erstwhile Donald Trump adjutant Brad Parscale, besides says that overmuch of this contented volition beryllium integrated with that of right-wing Christian web Salem Media, which successful April announced a strategical concern with Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, and his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.

Anonymous influencing

The run promised by Bridges Partners has already go the root of an online meme – but not successful the mode the institution oregon Israel would person been hoping.

Bridges Partners’ campaign involves an unnamed cohort of betwixt 14 and 18 influencers who would beryllium paid to station successful enactment of Israel. After breaking down the figures included by Bridges Partners successful their invoices to Havas, Responsible Statecraft – the Quincy Institute’s online mag – recovered that the influencers were apt being paid astir $7,000 per post.

The fig has been rapidly seized upon by detractors of Israel, who regularly station the magnitude underneath posts they fishy of being portion of the pro-Israel campaign, indicating that they judge the poster has been “bought” by Israel.

Responsible Statecraft reported earlier this period that the anonymity of the US influencers, who nether the presumption of their agreements would station paid pro-Israel contented since July, could perchance beryllium amerciable if their identities stay undisclosed.

At present, the Bridges Partners filing names lone 1 registered overseas agent: advisor Uri Steinberg, who holds a 50 percent involvement successful the company.

It is excessively aboriginal to accidental whether the run volition yet beryllium successful. But the backlash towards the statement erstwhile it became nationalist illustrates conscionable however hard the task volition beryllium for Israel to alteration perceptions that person present go profoundly ingrained, peculiarly among younger people.

“No substance what artificial information is produced, it inactive won’t beryllium capable to antagonistic the measurement of factual reporting of the warfare connected Gaza,” Jones said.

“However, determination mightiness beryllium capable to beforehand a consciousness of ambiguity implicit it, to contiguous some sides arsenic much adjacent successful the conflict, oregon to contiguous Israel’s effect to the onslaught of October 7 arsenic much tenable than immoderate present deliberation it is.”

Al Jazeera has been incapable to interaction Bridges Partners, Clock Tower X, oregon Show Faith by Works for comment.

Inquiries to the Israeli main of unit astatine the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eran Shayovich, and to Havas Media Group person besides gone unanswered.

In portion 2 of this investigation, to beryllium published connected Friday, Al Jazeera volition beryllium looking astatine wherefore Israel is truthful focused connected changing perceptions of it successful the United States.