'A triumphant failure': How Israel's use of social media influencers to win back support backfired

'A triumphant failure': How Israel's use of social media influencers to win back support backfired Submitted by Fleur Hargreaves on Mon, 07/20/2026 - 10:37 Israel quadrupled its PR budget to $730m in 2026 and is reportedly paying influencers up to $7,ooo to post pro-Israel content Anti-Trump and pro-Palestine protesters gather outside the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace in Washington, DC on 19 February 2026 (Heather Diehl/Getty Images/AFP) Off An unprecedented investment in social media propaganda by Israel is failing to shift the cratering support for the country in the western world amid its ongoing genocide in Gaza , particularly among the younger generation, analysts have told Middle East Eye. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in March found that a majority, 60 percent of the American public, including 57 percent of Republican voters under the age of 50 and 84 percent of Democrats under 50, view Israel unfavourably. Much of this is down to an increasing number of younger people using social media rather than mainstream outlets, which are overwhelmingly pro-Israel, for their news.