Netanyahu paid Google $45M to boost ‘Israeli’ propaganda: report

• Google is reportedly part of a six-month, $45 million contract with Netanyahu’s office.
• Ads and digital campaigns reportedly aimed to deny famine and humanitarian suffering in Gaza.

Google is in the middle of a six-month $45 million contract with ‘Israeli’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office to promote government messages and downplay the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, according to a report Wednesday by Drop Site News.

The contract, signed in late June, describes Google as a “key entity” in supporting Netanyahu’s public relations strategy, the outlet reported.

The campaign began days after ‘Israel’ blocked food, medicine, fuel, and other humanitarian supplies from entering Gaza on March 2. Lawmakers questioned officials about whether the government had prepared for the public relations fallout.

A spokesperson for the ‘Israeli’ army said authorities could launch a digital campaign “to explain that there is no hunger and present the data.”

Since then, government ads denying famine in Gaza have run widely, including a YouTube video from 'Israel’s' Foreign Ministry claiming, “there is food in Gaza. Any other claim is a lie,” which has been viewed more than 6 million times, much of it through paid promotion.

Denying the Humanitarian Crisis

The ads are managed via YouTube and Google’s Display & Video 360 platform and are described in government documents as “hasbara”- a Hebrew term often translated as propaganda.

'Israel' has also spent $3 million on ads with X and $2.1 million with the French-'Israeli' platform Outbrain/Teads.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that 185 people, including 12 children, died of starvation in August- the highest monthly toll since 'Israel’s' war on the enclave began nearly two years ago. Of these, 70 deaths occurred after the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) officially declared Gaza a famine zone.

Health officials also reported more than 43,000 children under five suffering from malnutrition, alongside 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women.

A total of 64,231 people were murdered and 161,583 were injured by 'Israeli' aggression in Gaza since Octover 7, 2023.