For years, the term “war between the wars” described Israel’s ongoing kinetic and clandestine operations in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran – actions intended to deter the next major conflict, weaken enemy capabilities, and protect Israel from Iran’s proxy network, from Hezbollah and Hamas to Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Quds Force.
These missions targeted weapons transfers, Hezbollah bases, and the Iranian nuclear program, which included the audacious assassination of Iran’s chief nuclear scientist in a James Bond-style operation.
While these kinetic efforts were vital, Israel failed on the non-kinetic front: the global campaign to delegitimize, demonize, and boycott the Jewish state.
Losing the war of ideas has become an existential security threat, and Israel has been slow to find a unified, well-funded strategy to combat it.
A new front
Two years after October 7, 2023, Israel faces what might be called its eighth front: the explosion of anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment across college campuses, within the Democratic Party, among certain right-wing pundits such as Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, and throughout much of the legacy media.
Open antisemitism is now given a respectable platform as the Overton window has expanded to allow blatant Jewish hatred in public discourse.
A recent Quinnipiac Poll found that 77% of Democrats believe Israel is committing genocide, compared to 64% of Republicans who reject that claim. Such numbers reflect a disturbing moral inversion, fueled by misinformation and ideological hostility.
As the guns in Gaza quiet for the time being, the next phase of Israel’s struggle will depend on whether Israelis and Americans who appreciate Israel’s strategic value to America can work together, pooling resources, coordinating messaging, and fighting this new “war between the wars” for decades to come.
APR campaign
Most people know about BDS, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign that seeks to isolate and ultimately destroy Israel. But the newest front is APR (Anti-Palestinian racism), a campaign spreading rapidly across Western campuses.
APR seeks to shut down any discussion of Palestinian terrorism, corruption, or human rights abuses by labeling such criticism as inherently racist. It mirrors the way “Islamophobia” is invoked to silence debate, even as antisemitic hate crimes far outnumber anti-Muslim incidents.
As Betsy Berns Korn, chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and I wrote earlier this year, “APR is the latest mutation of anti-Zionism, wrapped in the language of civil rights. It cloaks political hatred in ‘progressive morality,’ weaponizing the language of anti-racism to intimidate Israel’s defenders and shield Palestinian extremists from scrutiny.
“Unlike classical political anti-Zionism, APR claims moral authority, branding anyone who challenges Palestinian narratives as racist. Left unchallenged, APR is on its way to reshaping public discourse and normalizing antisemitism in schools, NGOs, and governments.”
The fallout of the two-year war has emboldened antisemites and magnified their reach, especially among young Americans consuming news through social media echo chambers that demonize Israel, Israelis, and Jews who support Israel’s right to exist.
Israel’s critics often claim that pro-Israel voices label all criticism of the Jewish state as antisemitic. That is demonstrably false. Israelis and Diaspora Jews routinely debate and criticize Israel’s government; it is, in fact, a national pastime.
The issue is not criticism but delegitimization.
Defining antisemitism
So, what actually works to persuade Americans to support Israel?
As Chris Rufo recently wrote in City Journal, “Supporters of Israel should focus on how support for Israel advances America’s peace, safety, security, and culture... The answer to antisemitism is equal protection under the law... and civil discourse enforced with consequences.”
To confront antisemitism, we must first define it, even imperfectly. Without a shared definition, there can be no accountability. And yes, one can be Jewish and antisemitic; groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace embody that contradiction.
Many university students still believe that with the right facts, they can persuade the haters. Sadly, this is naïve. Those chanting “From the river to the sea” or glorifying “martyrs” are not interested in dialogue.
The real audience is the uninformed and the undecided, those willing to hear that Israel, for all its imperfections, remains a democracy with women’s and LGBTQ rights, a free press, and a remarkable record of humanitarian innovation that saves lives worldwide.
BDS must be exposed for what it is: a campaign to delegitimize and ultimately eliminate Israel while ignoring the blatant human rights abusers like Russia, China, North Korea, Qatar, and Iran.
Facts matter, but stories persuade. Personal narratives, human experiences, and moral clarity are what move minds.
Finding a solution
What’s needed now are professional public diplomacy and branding campaigns that are well funded, data driven, and coordinated.
Too often, pro-Israel and Jewish organizations are territorial and divided, wasting resources instead of aligning behind shared strategic goals. The Conference of Presidents can play a crucial convening role, along with visionary philanthropists.
Diplomatically, Israel must also repair the damage of two years of war. Public diplomacy has been chronically underfunded, leaving key regions underrepresented and critical narratives unchallenged.
Firing effective spokespersons like Noa Tishby for political reasons during an existential crisis was a self-inflicted wound.
There should be no illusions that with foreign journalists now entering Gaza, Israel’s messaging battle will become any easier. Disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda will remain pervasive.
As Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute, wrote in The Wall Street Journal, “Truth is hard to get in Gaza.” Hamas has long maintained tight control over coverage, and the new peace plan is unlikely to change that.
A strategic reset
To reverse these trends, Israel needs a strategic reset – a unified communication and engagement plan that bridges politics, generations, and communities.
Communications must be synchronized across the Prime Minister’s Office, the IDF, the Foreign Ministry, and major Diaspora organizations. Consistency and coordination amplify credibility and avoid mixed messages that undermine Israel’s case.
Trusted American figures, from veterans and journalists to academics and civic leaders, must be equipped to engage authentically on social media, television, and university campuses. Local, credible voices are far more persuasive than official spokespeople.
Build a real-time, rapid-response capability to identify and expose false narratives. Accuracy and speed are critical in an era when misinformation can shape public opinion before the truth catches up.
To reach Gen Z and millennial audiences, Israel must prioritize storytelling over statistics, emphasizing human narratives, shared democratic values, and moral clarity on platforms where younger people get their news.
There should be more openness about Israel’s military ethics, rules of engagement, and humanitarian operations.
This can dispel misinformation and strengthen faith in Israel’s moral compass, at least for the majority of Americans who sympathize with the Jewish state. Transparency is not weakness; it’s a force multiplier for credibility.
Recognize the threat
Israel cannot afford to treat APR, BDS, and demonization as side battles. They are not public relations nuisances; they are primary national security threats.
A state’s deterrence depends not only on its military strength but also on the legitimacy of its cause and the resilience of its alliances.
When Israel is portrayed as an apartheid, genocidal state, it erodes US public support, weakens bipartisan backing in Congress, emboldens its enemies, and constrains its freedom of action in future wars.
Strategic deterrence is built on perception as much as power.
If the world, and especially the next generation of American voters, internalize the lie that Israel’s self-defense is illegitimate, then Israel’s ability to act preemptively against threats like Hezbollah, Iran, or Hamas will be politically and diplomatically paralyzed.
The campaign to delegitimize Israel is therefore a frontline threat, one that directly impacts Israel’s survival and America’s interests in a stable Middle East that requires Israel to be perceived as a strong partner.
The non-kinetic battle will be fought hard; unfortunately, with so much bias against Israel, it will only be partially successful. But it must be fought persistently, with the resources proportional to the gravity of the threat.
The first step is acknowledgment: Israel must recognize that BDS, APR, and antisemitism are primary wars, not secondary theaters of combat.■
Eric Mandel is the senior security editor of The Jerusalem Report and director of MEPIN, the Middle East Political Information Network. He regularly briefs members of Congress and their foreign policy advisers, as well as the State Department.