The Israeli government is paying US content producers up to $7000 per post as part of a major increase in budget for global influence campaigns. “We have to fight with the weapons that apply to the battlefields in which we engage, and the most important ones are on social media,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a group of US-based Jewish influencers in New York this week.
A September 2025 filing by Bridges partners LLC on behalf of ‘Government of Israel through Havas Media Group’ under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) details “Initial payments for production and influencers. Concept development with each influencer. Begin matching with Israeli content partners and writing initial post,” among other line items. More than half the $900,000 total appears to be allocated to the recruitment and training of a cohort of more than a dozen US-based online influencers expected to post pro-Israel content.
The campaign is part of a larger influence push by Israeli authorities amid a collapse of public support in the US and elsewhere as the Gaza genocide draws into its third year. In late 2024, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar negotiated a 20-fold increase in the foreign influence budget, securing USD$150 million. Among other initiatives, Israel is now paying $1.5 million a month to President Donald Trump’s former digital campaign strategist Brad Parscale to produce “strategic communications,” using AI tools to generate thousands of variants on pro-Israel messaging. Parscale is is now registered as a foreign agent.
“We have to fight back. How do we fight back? Our influencers,” Netanyahu told the gathering in New York in September.
