The Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry has prompted discussion after launching an ad campaign on social media to garner support for their retaliation against Hamas following a surprise October 7 offensive. Many are denouncing the ads as “propaganda,” while others are raising concerns about the disturbing content within the ads being forcibly shown to users without their consent.
On October 12, some users on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) reported being targeted with bizarre pre-video ads on YouTube on the conflict in Israel. One ad in particular, which was reportedly intended to reach audiences seeking family content, featured animated ponies and rainbows to nursery-like music over text stating that “40 infants were murdered by Hamas terrorists (ISIS).”
Concluding, the ad asks viewers to support Israel amid its ongoing conflict with Palestine: “Now hug your baby and stand with us.”
One user on Reddit uploaded a video of the ad to the platform’s r/Weird sub-community, prompting intense discussion and debate on the contents. Most commentators reacted with disbelief, unsure if it was real.
The original poster, u/SaorAlba138, stated he had been trying to watch a video on Baldur’s Gate when he got the bizarre advertisement.
Soon after, some X users began to report spotting the ad for themselves.
The Publica was able to verify yesterday that the advertisement originated from the official YouTube account of the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry, and had been used as part of an international ad-buy that resulted in the video getting over 900,000 views in just 24 hours.
Jeremy Hambly, co-founder of The Publica, quoted the uploaded video, and pointed out an apparent double standard in YouTube’s acceptable content policy.
“I can’t run my own channel trailer as an ad because they say it’s ‘political,’ but Israel can buy over a million impressions in just a few hours for their wartime propaganda designed to get [Americans] to support war,” he said.
In addition to running YouTube ads, Israel appears to have launched a similar ad campaign on X, which utilizes multiple videos with extremely graphic content.
One disturbing clip, appearing across the platform, refers to Israeli women being brutally “slaughtered in their homes” while utilizing videos and photos of bloodied women, while in another, a gruesome photo of a bloodied baby corpse is shown.
The advertisements have prompted widespread debate and outrage on social media, with some supporting the grisly imagery while others condemned the shocking content.
“Why is Israel making ads with dead babies [and] why is @elonmusk allowing this on [X],” one user asked.
“Just a heads up, I’m now getting ads that show graphic and potentially triggering imagery from Israel and the Hamas attack, without any warnings,” another user said in an effort to alert others.
As previously reported by The Publica, Hamas fighters from Gaza launched a full-scale offensive against Israel on Saturday, almost 50 years to the day of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In response to Hamas attacks, which have left 1200 dead so far, the Israeli military launched airstrikes into Gaza, killing and injuring thousands of Palestinians.
While tensions continue to rise globally, the death toll among both nations has reportedly surpassed over 3000 civilians.
