Invisible Warfare: How Hamas Hacks the Headlines

V24 presents an in-depth series covering the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. This comprehensive series features on-the-ground interviews, bringing firsthand insights from a diverse range of voices, including politicians, professors, journalists, experts and influencers. Our guest today: Keren Pikes.

In this exclusive interview, Keren Pikes, spokeswoman for Israel’s national public diplomacy directorate, reveals how Israel fights a shadow war of facts and narratives amid an unprecedented propaganda assault. Drawing on her journalistic experience and public diplomacy leadership, Pikes exposes the complex battlefield of information control in a media landscape transformed by social networks, instant news, and AI.

Fighting the War of Narratives

The Israel-Hamas conflict has unleashed extraordinary pressure on information verification worldwide extending far beyond the military frontlines. Social media platforms and AI-driven content flood every channel with unverifiable claims, blurring the line between fact and fiction.

From day one, Hamas launched a highly coordinated propaganda offensive. This conflict has intensified existing journalistic challenges, as reporters face bot-driven disinformation and biased data, with speed too often winning over accuracy. Media outlets and public diplomacy teams race against the clock to correct falsehoods and fill widening information vacuums.

The distortion of facts goes far beyond simple bias. Pikes emphasizes that Israel has adopted a policy of rapid verification even when the truth is uncomfortable. Promptly acknowledging regrettable incidents, such as civilian casualties caused by Israeli operations, sets a democratic state apart from terror organizations. While risky, this transparency ultimately strengthens long-term credibility.

This approach stands in stark contrast to Hamas, whose orchestrated narratives are released instantly and spread virally online. Without reliable verification, some Western media outlets inadvertently amplify extremist tropes. Pikes stresses that Israel’s focus remains firmly on the war’s factual core: the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7th, the mass slaughter, kidnappings, and brutal acts that triggered Israel’s current military response.

Selective Outrage

The spokeswoman finds it deeply disturbing that organizations which should instinctively denounce atrocities—such as women’s rights groups in response to the documented rapes and sexual violence committed on October 7th—have remained silent or slow to react. This silence, she argues, is symptomatic of a broader trend: the normalization of anti-Israel sentiment, even within liberal democracies. According to Pikes, this reflects not only political bias but also a profound misunderstanding of the facts—and a troubling resurgence of anti-Semitism in new, often socially acceptable forms.

Nowhere is this more visible than in the mass protests erupting in Western capitals, where slogans like “From the River to the Sea” are chanted with little grasp of their implications. Pikes emphasizes that much of the international public, particularly younger generations, lack crucial historical context. Many view the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through simplified or distorted lenses, often shaped by emotionally charged narratives that obscure the atrocities committed by groups like Hamas. This educational deficit, she warns, represents a long-term vulnerability, one that Israel can no longer afford to ignore.

Navigating the Modern Media Battlefield

Compounding the challenge is the radical transformation of the media landscape. Traditional news outlets no longer hold a monopoly on information. Instead, user-generated content, social media influencers, and citizen journalists now shape global perceptions in real time. This fragmented environment has been eagerly exploited by adversarial propaganda machines—many state-backed and well-funded, including those supported by Iran—which flood the information space with coordinated disinformation and emotionally manipulative messaging.

In response, Israel is adapting its public diplomacy to the new reality. The strategy is no longer reactive or confined to formal channels. It now includes deploying advanced digital tools, offering specialized training to spokespeople and allies, and crafting messages that cut through the online noise. While no single approach can solve the problem overnight, Pikes underlines three core pillars of the revamped strategy: building long-term credibility, investing in education, and responding swiftly and factually to breaking news.

Ultimately, Israel’s goal is not to dominate the narrative, but to guide global audiences toward a more nuanced and informed understanding—one grounded in facts rather than ideology. Through transparency, education, and proactive engagement, it hopes to push back against knee-jerk judgments and disinformation, and to reclaim truth in a media battlefield increasingly shaped by chaos and manipulation.

The Battle Against Emotional Manipulation

Pikes’s perspective underscores a sobering truth: facts alone often cannot overcome carefully engineered emotional narratives. She expresses concern that many Western observers fail to fully grasp the existential stakes involved and remain vulnerable to simplistic moral equivalencies. Terror organizations exploit this confusion, and the absence of swift, unified international condemnation only emboldens them.

As extremist influences grow from violent rallies to conspiracy-driven social media movements, Pikes warns that ignoring these trends invites grave danger. “The West is next,” she cautions, urging nations worldwide to recognize that attacks on Israeli civilians signal a broader ideological assault on freedom and democracy. Without vigilance, informed awareness, and a steadfast commitment to confronting falsehoods, no one can claim immunity.

Adam Starzynski

Journalist | Foreign Policy Analyst

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