I think sometimes we underestimate just how vulnerable Israel is on the public-relations front. That's why the... — Norman Finkelstein

I think sometimes we underestimate just how vulnerable Israel is on the public-relations front. That's why they spend so much money on propaganda. And that's why they panic every time they feel like they're losing the propaganda war.

Author: Norman Finkelstein

Insight: Every organization with stakes in how the world sees them faces a real tension: the gap between their actual position and how people perceive it. Israel isn't unique in this struggle, though the scale and stakes are unusually high. When your legitimacy as a nation is actively contested by significant portions of the global population, communication stops being optional PR work and becomes existential. What's easy to miss is that this vulnerability cuts both ways. Yes, Israel invests heavily in narrative management and messaging strategy. But that investment itself signals something true: military or economic power alone can't settle questions about whether a nation deserves to exist or how it should behave. Those questions live in the court of public opinion, which means they're genuinely up for grabs in a way that tanks and budgets aren't. This is uncomfortable for any government to admit. The non-obvious part is recognizing that intense focus on controlling narratives often backfires. When people sense someone is panicked about the story being told, they naturally become more skeptical. They start asking what's being hidden. It's the classic dynamic: the harder you fight to shape what people believe, the more some people assume you're hiding something worth hiding. For Israel and countless other actors on the world stage, this creates a real bind that money alone can't solve.