Government documents accessed by Drop Site News reveal that Google entered into a $45 million advertising agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in late June, aimed at promoting the government’s narrative regarding Gaza.
This six-month campaign leverages YouTube and Google’s Display & Video 360 platform to circulate videos that dispute claims of hunger in Gaza. One notable video from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims, “There’s food in Gaza. The other claims are lies,” and it has garnered over six million views, largely through paid advertising. The contract refers to the campaign as “hasborough,” a Hebrew term relating to public relations or promotion.
Promotional activities commenced shortly after Israel declared that humanitarian supplies to Gaza were obstructed on March 2nd. During a Knesset hearing that day, IDF spokesperson Avichai Edrei indicated that the launch of a digital campaign was justified to clarify there was no hunger, providing supporting data in the process.
The agreement also describes Google as a “critical entity” aiding the Prime Minister’s message.
Additionally, Israel has inked contracts with other entities, including a $3 million deal with X and X and $2.1 million with Outbrain/Teas, as reported by the government. The documents suggest a campaign associated with the Rising Operations Lion, which backs Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran.
Other efforts reportedly include a campaign against UNRWA, led by Hadas Maimon from the Diaspora Ministry, which has been ongoing for about a year. There’s also a campaign aimed at the Palestinian Hindrajab Foundation, along with promotions for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
It’s worth noting that Google and Amazon have a cloud computing initiative with the Israeli government called Project Nimbus, signed in 2021, which involves military services.
This alleged campaign stands in contrast to the United Nations’ assessment. In August, the UN’s integrated food security stage classification indicated that hunger was present in Gaza, describing it as “completely artificial, able to be stopped and reversed.”
In a related matter, some Israelis have called for food restrictions, with Finance Minister Bezarel Smotlich addressing the issue on a news channel.
There’s also a report that Google co-founder Sergey Brin referred to the UN as exhibiting “transparent anti-Semitism” in internal forums after the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese criticized Google’s role in the ongoing conflict.
