For the year 2025, the Israeli government announced it would be earmarking an additional $150 million toward global public relations, an unprecedented increase in spending that comes alongside a striking collapse in perception for Israel around the world.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/31424812

Murtaza Hussain, Waqas Ahmed, and Ryan Grim Jun 09, 2025

"A review of leaked data from Meta, provided to us by company whistleblowers, shows that Israeli companies since 2023 are finding it increasingly difficult everywhere around the world to attract new customers, leading to advertising-cost increases in the billions.

We also just posted the translated audio of an extraordinary interview just given by former Israeli PM Yair Lapid, who is often discussed as a more humane, centrist alternative to Benjamin Netanyahu. Give it a listen and see if you agree with that label."

  • Maeve@kbin.earth
    8·
    7 days ago

    Lapid said returning the Israeli captives should be the immediate priority, even if it requires ending the war — a move he admitted “no one wants” because “we want to keep killing Hamas.” He emphasized that the “annihilation of Hamas” must remain a long-term goal and said Hamas would “sooner or later” provide Israel with “opportunities” that would justify renewing the assault in the eyes of the international community. On Iran, Lapid positioned himself as more hardline than Netanyahu, arguing Israel should have struck both Iran’s nuclear facilities and oil infrastructure after the April 2024 missile attack, even over U.S. objections.

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