Why Millions of Dollars in Hasbara Failed to Restore Israel's National Security Image

TEL AVIV — Budgets worth tens to hundreds of millions of dollars that Tel Aviv has poured into improving its image in the eyes of the world no longer appear capable of concealing the reality on the ground.

The statement by US Vice President J D Vance that Israel is losing the battle for public opinion marks a signal that Israel’s propaganda system, known as hasbara, is facing a strategic failure unprecedented in scale.

This major shift in the political and digital landscape reflects a structural crisis far deeper than a mere matter of media marketing.

The crisis strikes at the principal foundations of Israel’s national security doctrine and marks the beginning of a new era in which the colonial narrative it has long constructed is increasingly difficult to sustain.

Israeli affairs expert Muhannad Mustafa assesses that Israel is experiencing a comprehensive collapse of its historical narrative, which has rested on two main pillars: its image as a “victim” and as a “democratic state”.

In his view, the war in the Gaza Strip and the system that many parties describe as an apartheid practice in the West Bank have revealed the true face of the state.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, quoted on Wednesday (22/7/2026), Mustafa said that J D Vance’s statement carries considerable weight because it comes from a senior official still in office.

The statement also aligns with various public opinion survey results, including research from the Pew Research Center, showing that around 60 per cent of United States citizens and 67 per cent of young people across several countries hold negative views of Israel.