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DUBAI: Contracts filed under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act have revealed the reach of a sprawling, state-backed media campaign, funded by an additional $150 million approved last year, for Israel’s foreign ministry to polish the country’s tarnished reputation.

The campaign, known in Hebrew as Hasbara, comes as Israel’s military operation in Gaza, launched in retaliation for the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, has been widely branded an act of genocide against the Palestinian people.

Major public relations firms now face accusations of whitewashing Israel’s behavior.

Recent FARA disclosures uncovered a highly coordinated, tech-driven propaganda operation through the German division of Havas Media Group — one of the world’s largest advertising firms — and a network of politically connected American PR agencies.

The strategy aims to flood the internet with content crafted to reshape global perception of Israel, particularly among US and European audiences, as images of civilian casualties and razed neighborhoods in Gaza continue to dominate headlines and social media. 

The most advanced aspect of this propaganda machine involves manipulating AI-driven content.  

Clock Tower X, a US firm led by President Donald Trump’s former campaign aide Brad Parscale, was hired by Havas to create websites designed to influence how AI models like ChatGPT respond to prompts about Israel and the war in Gaza.

This tactic, known as GPT framing, aims to embed pro-Israel narratives directly into the training data.  

According to the $6 million contract, drafted on Aug. 27, Clock Tower X plans to produce targeted content for Generation Z audiences across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, podcasts and other digital platforms in response to declining support for Israel among younger Americans.

The company said it would complete an “initial cultural, demographic and sentiment research report” for Israel within 30 days, according to a FARA filing.

To maximize reach, the firm is also using MarketBrew AI, a predictive search engine optimization tool, to “improve the visibility and ranking of relevant narratives” on search engines like Google and Bing.  

On Tuesday, another FARA filing revealed a $900,000 influencer campaign, dubbed the “Esther Project,” which pays US-based TikTok and Instagram influencers up to $7,000 per post to promote pro-Israel content.

The campaign, involving 14 to 18 influencers, is managed by Bridges Partners LLC, a firm subcontracted by Havas to recruit and coordinate US-based influencers to “assist with promoting cultural interchange between the US and Israel.”

Another US-based firm, Stagwell Global, conducted polling and focus groups to advise the Israeli government on messaging strategies for international media.

On Sept. 5, independent outlet Drop Site News published leaked documents claiming that Stagwell Group had been commissioned by Israel’s foreign ministry to test campaign messages aimed at improving the country’s image in the US and Europe.

The PR firm, led by longtime Israeli ally and American political strategist Mark Penn, advised that the most effective strategy was to stoke fear of “radical Islam” and religious extremism.

The leaked report showed recommendations on using messages about terrorism, suggesting that framing these ideologies as threats to other religions was a tactic shown to be especially persuasive among conservative audiences.

SKDK, a subsidiary of Stagwell Group, is also responsible for running an AI-powered influence campaign aimed at flooding platforms like X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn with pro-Israel content, according to Sludge News.

The $600,000 contract, signed on April 28 and filed under FARA in August, outlined plans on how SKDK will “flood the zone” with pro-Israel messages using automated AI-powered bots to amplify the reach and visibility of the content.

SKDK was also tasked with training Israeli spokespeople for media appearances, coordinating outreach to global outlets including CNN, BBC and Fox News, and testing the use of, and potentially work with, influencers.

However, SKDK ended its work with the Israeli government soon after and began deregistering on Aug. 31. Stagwell also confirmed it had concluded its involvement, according to a statement provided to Politico.

Both companies were reportedly subcontracted by Havas.

In a statement to Arab News, a Stagwell spokesperson said the company was hired as a subcontractor by Havas to “complete this work as part of a broader project” but it did not “know the nature of Havas’ broader contract with the (Israeli ministry).”

“Our agencies work across the political and issue spectrum and this project done by a small team working on a defined brief does not reflect a shift in that approach,” the spokesperson said. The polling project for Israel, they said, had been completed.

Havas did not immediately respond to Arab News’ request for comment.

The FARA revelations have sparked industry-wide outrage and a call for stronger ethics and regulation in the PR industry.

Industry bodies like the Public Relations and Communications Association and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations have a set of international guidelines that require agencies to uphold transparency and accuracy.

Abeer Al-Najjar, associate professor of media and journalism studies at the American University of Sharjah, said under the international PR codes of ethics, contracts between a state and a PR agency should be disclosed to allow the media and public to assess the context of information campaigns.

“This allows journalists to make informed judgments about materials, interviews or narratives promoted by the agency,” she told Arab News.

Al-Najjar said that ethical standards required PR professionals to “avoid spreading misinformation, unverifiable claims or selective framing that could distort public understanding” — principles that are critical during a time of conflict such as the one in Gaza to “protect the integrity of journalism, ensure accountability and prevent PR from becoming a tool of propaganda.”

In light of the recent FARA revelations, industry nonprofit, the Ethical Agency Alliance, said on Thursday that it was expanding its commitments to include the refusal of “all contracts that involve manipulating public opinion to obscure, justify or sanitize atrocities — including war crimes, crimes against humanity or other serious breaches of international law — through communications, branding or public relations.”

Despite the lack of strict regulations, Chris Doyle, director of the London-based Council for Arab-British Understanding, said PR professionals had a duty to “do no harm.”

“It is very hard to imagine a way in which a PR firm could work with a state (such as) Israel that is in the process of genocide, the crime of apartheid and other war crimes and not violate that cardinal principle,” he told Arab News.

In 2017, global PR firm Bell Pottinger was expelled from the Public Relations and Communications Association following an investigation into its campaign allegedly designed to spark racial tensions in South Africa.

In 2015, another firm, Edelman, came under fire over its representation of ExxonMobil and Shell while it publicly promoted sustainability. Senior staff members and notable clients severed their relationship with the firm, criticizing it for its unethical greenwashing practices.

At a time when PR firms often get a bad rap, it would be prudent for them to stay away from political campaigns, Doyle said.

“For any firm to get into a situation where they are seen as participants in a war (or) assisting a party committing war crimes … it should be catastrophic for their reputations. The fact that it is not begs questions about how they’re held to account.”

He said Israel, with a record of spreading misinformation and disinformation, made it impossible for PR agencies to implement their duty to be honest and not spread falsehoods.

Hasbara is not new. Israel is accused of running coordinated information warfare campaigns during every major assault on Gaza in 2012, 2014 and 2021.

Its propaganda apparatus has grown significantly in scale and technological sophistication, evolving into a fully digitized operation that spans search engine manipulation, influencer payments, AI model training and deepfake visuals.

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Earlier reports, including a May 2024 investigation by Qatari media, documented the alleged use of AI-powered “superbots” designed to swarm social platforms, target pro-Palestinian posts and amplify Israeli talking points in real time.

The bots, said to be increasingly indistinguishable from human users, are part of a wider shift toward algorithmic propaganda.

According to Israeli media reports, the $150 million boost approved in December represented a more than twentyfold increase in its typical budget for international messaging — an urgent push to salvage Israel’s image as it faces mounting diplomatic pressure and global isolation.

Al-Najjar warned of the damage that state-funded campaigns can cause to public trust and discourse as well as meaningful journalism.

For example, they might include “reputation laundering, agenda-setting, and selective storytelling, all of which can suppress or marginalize critical reporting,” she said.

The risks are exacerbated by technology, as governments “increasingly deploy superbots, paid influencers and AI-driven content to simulate grassroots opinion, misrepresent public sentiment and overwhelm critical voices.”

Al-Najjar said that over time, propaganda normalized as marketing eroded trust, desensitized audiences to atrocity, distorted history and silenced marginal voices.

It also resulted in “a distorted global understanding of conflict, where ethical debates, accountability and informed public discourse are compromised.”

When PR executive Richard Edelman warned brands in January 2024 to “stay out of politics” amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or risk long-term damage, his advice seems to have fallen on deaf ears among many in the industry.

Now, PR firms engaged in Israeli-backed campaigns are entangled in accusations of complicity in genocide, with their reputations on the line.

As Lameya Chaudhury, head of social impact at advertising firm Lucky Generals, said in a statement by the Ethical Agency Alliance: “Let’s be clear: If you take money to sanitize atrocities, you’re complicit.”

The PR and advertising industry “can’t keep pretending it’s neutral” because “every time you take a brief, you take a side,” she said.