Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted Friday that his government views social media platforms as a “weapon” to support Israel’s agenda in influencing the U.S. amid condemnation for ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.
In a meeting with U.S. influencers at Israel’s Consulate General in New York and published in a video on right-wing influencer Debra Lea’s X account, Netanyahu described social media as “the most important weapon … to secure our base in the U.S.”
“We have to fight back how do we fight back? Our influencers, I think you should also talk to them if you have a chance, that community they’re very important and secondly we’re going to have to use the tools of battle you know the weapons change over time.
“We can’t fight today with swords that doesn’t work very well okay, and you can find with fight with cavalry. That doesn’t work very well and you have these new things you know like drones, I won’t get into that, but we have to fight with weapons that applied to the battlefields in which we’re engaged in and most important ones are on social media.”
He identified TikTok as “the most important purchase going on right now,” alleging its control could be “consequential.”
“The most important purchase is going on right now is class followers followers TikTok Tick Tock number one and I hope it goes through because it’s can be consequential and the other one what is the other that most important is X.”
Netanyahu also mentioned X, saying: “We have to talk to Elon (Musk). He’s not an enemy, he’s a friend.”
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He claimed that if influence could be secured over TikTok and X, Israel would “get a lot.”
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order certifying that a deal that will shift TikTok’s U.S. operations to an American consortium meets national security requirements mandated by a domestic law.
Trump said the investor consortium will be comprised of tech company Oracle, Michael Dell, Rupert Murdoch, and others.
Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s years of open support for Israel has sparked concerns that the company’s authority over TikTok will be used to benefit the Israeli government.
Netanyahu’s remarks came as Israel stands increasingly isolated over its genocidal war in Gaza, where nearly 65,600 Palestinians, the vast majority women and children, have been killed since October 2023.
Netanyahu spoke to a largely empty hall in the 80th session of the UN General Assembly after many delegations walked out in protest of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, now nearing its third year.
