Israel Furious as US Public Support Plummets Despite $1.5 Million Monthly Campaign
Israeli officials are reportedly furious that a campaign to sway American public opinion has failed to stem the decline in support for Israel among young American conservatives, despite Israel pouring US$1.5 million (Rp 26.8 billion) a month into the effort.
Although millions of dollars have been spent targeting the MAGA (Make America Great Again) base, shaping narratives on social media and influencing AI platforms, as reported by Middle East Monitor on Friday (17 July 2026), polling shows that American public support for Israel continues to slide.
An investigative report published by TIME magazine exposed the campaign Israel has been running to prevent young conservatives in the US from turning against it.
Although publicly presented as a campaign against antisemitism, according to TIME its broader strategic aim was to sustain support for Israel among right-wing American groups, who have grown increasingly critical of Israel and of Washington’s involvement in regional wars involving Israel.
Official documents filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act show that the global advertising agency Havas hired a company owned by Brad Parscale, former campaign manager to President Donald Trump, in September 2025 to run a digital campaign on Israel’s behalf.
The deal required the firm to produce 100 pieces of original content each month, with at least 80 per cent targeting Generation Z audiences via TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and podcasts.
The campaign promised at least 50 million digital impressions per month and included efforts to influence AI tools — including ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini — in presenting information about Israel and the wars involving it.
Last April it emerged that Israel had paid US$9 million (Rp 161.2 billion) to Parscale and renewed his contract. The contract covers digital advertising, text message outreach, and efforts to ensure pro-Israel material appears at the top of online sources used by AI systems.
Three sources familiar with the Israeli campaign said conservative influencers received scripts to post via private chat groups and were paid according to the reach and engagement of their posts.
It is not known exactly how much the influencers involved in the campaign were paid. TIME reviewed messages from similar campaigns offering a base payment of US$2,250 (Rp 40 million) plus additional payments based on views, allowing an influencer to earn as much as US$4,250 (Rp 76 million) for a single post.
Israel Dissatisfied with Campaign Results: The Situation Is Only Getting Worse!
Despite the enormous sums spent, Israeli officials are unhappy with the campaign’s results.
“We are angry at Brad Parscale. He was supposed to make things better. We paid him a lot of money. But what has he done with it? The situation is only getting worse,” an official at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who declined to be named, told TIME.
Recent polling shows Israel has failed to reverse the downward trend in American public support. Pew Research Center reported in April that 60 per cent of Americans view Israel negatively, up from 53 per cent in 2025 and 42 per cent in 2022.
Among Republican Party members aged 18-49, some 57 per cent of respondents held a negative view of Israel — also an increase from 50 per cent the previous year.