Psychological Warfare in Israel

I know what you’re thinking—every war has psychological warfare, and the war in Israel is no different. The problem, though, is that the world is not just standing on the sidelines watching the fighting; the world has become an active participant, and it’s chosen the Palestinian side. But the world is not weighing the psychological aspect of the war; it is viewing the war through the lens of oppressor/oppressed, calling out Israel for its fighting strategies, where in many ways, the mental brutality that Israel has suffered is ignored.

Why does this matter? Because the world thinks it has the right to make demands of Israel and expects them to be met. And they expect the Biden administration to force the Israelis to comply.

I don’t know if the psychological aspects of this war matter more than any other war, but I’ll leave that to others to decide. In this war, the punishment has been horrendous. Let me list just a few: the sneak attack of Hamas fighters on a kibbutz; not only taking hostages, but burning and beheading civilians in front of their children; Hamas playing games with deadlines and promises to release hostages; hostages trapped in darkness within the tunnels; subjected to near-starvation, raped and other physical torture, and with medical conditions that went untreated; Hamas refusing to give up 20 Israeli corpses to be buried, so that Israel will feel forced to release more Palestinian prisoners.

Israel is also using psychological warfare: the rumor was spread, even supported by videos, that the tunnels were flooded with sea water (although they haven’t been flooded yet); prisoners stripped to their underwear in public after they surrendered to the IDF (to ensure they weren’t wearing suicide bombs). Israel responded almost immediately following the attacks on October 7:

Just hours into the crisis as Israel was still struggling to cope, the Israeli military officer in charge of liaising with the Palestinians posted a video on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

‘Hamas opened the gates of hell on the Gaza Strip, Hamas made the decision and Hamas will bear the responsibility and pay the price,’ threatened Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. His post was circulated widely, using social media to spread the word and instill fear.

The problem for Hamas (and an advantage for Israel) is that its fighting strategy has been dictated by Yahya Sinwar, a vicious and violent man who leads Hamas and was imprisoned by Israel for 22 years and released in 2011:

But to fellow prisoners, Sinwar was charismatic, sociable and shrewd, open to detainees from all political factions. He became the leader of the hundreds of imprisoned Hamas members. He organised strikes to improve conditions. He learnt Hebrew and studied Israeli society.

‘Being a leader inside prison gave him experience in negotiations and dialogue, and he understood the mentality of the enemy and how to affect it,’ said Anwar Yassine, a Lebanese citizen who spent about 17 years in Israeli jails, much of the time with Sinwar.

The problem for Sinwar is that he believes his past experience, even though it occurred inside a prison, made him an expert on the Israeli psyche. He knew that Israel had released 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier, so he was certain that using hostages would be a successful psychological strategy. He didn't realize, however, the transforming power of the October 7 raid. Although Israel participated in the initial hostage release negotiations, once Hamas reneged on the agreement, Israel withdrew. They now know that Hamas will manipulate any exchanges, and Israel will have no way of knowing if anymore hostages will be released alive. It’s highly unlikely that they will negotiate for hostages again. They have become even more resolute, and they will focus on destroying Hamas.

Meanwhile, the Palestinians, which includes Hamas, have garnered the pity of the international communities. They continue to be characterized as victims, colonized by the Israelis who subject them to apartheid and who are trapped within their occupied country. None of those descriptions are true. But the world prefers to criticize and judge Israel/Jews as the oppressor nation. They are demanding already that Israel must end the war, whatever that might mean. Even if—maybe, especially if—Israel destroys Hamas, Israel will be the villain in this story.

In the middle of this existential war, the world is playing politics.

No one seems to remember October 7.