Information Warfare: Middle East Information War
April 13, 2025: Disinformation and propaganda have been used for thousands of years to control and manipulate public opinion. Even kings and dictators use these methods to control their subjects and avoid costly rebellions or periods of unrest. Currently the Middle East is where these methods flourish. Except for Israel, there are no other democracies in the region. Yet everyone in the Middle East relies on controlling information for political survival.
Israel has been using Information War, via the Internet, a lot more, and a lot more aggressively than anyone else in the region. There have long been many pro-Israel Internet users who have been very active on message boards where Israel is discussed, especially when Israel is being disrespected with false or distorted information. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has recruited some of these internet activists to work in coordination with foreign policy initiatives, to deliver focused and more compelling messages in support of Israel.
Israel is also making greater use of its large number of Arab speaking Jewish citizens, most of them descendants of Jews driven out of Arab countries in the late 1940s. These net activists visit Arab language message boards, and provide support for Israel, or at least deflate the more common lies and myths spread about Israel and Jews. Israeli intelligence has also done well by setting up Arab language websites to take advantage of animosities within the Arab world. In Lebanon, that meant anti-Hezbollah sites, or fake Israeli-operated pro-Hezbollah sites that spread harmful Hezbollah disinformation (black propaganda). The same tactic is used against Iran and Islamic radicals in general. Such sites are also used to recruit spies in Arab countries.
https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htiw/articles/20250413121058.aspx#gsc.tab=0
