• No amount of money or campaign can successfully polish the image of a state that has so openly committed one of the most documented genocides in recorded history. The powerful, compelling moral authority of the once-marginalized Palestinian narrative has surged

The author is a non-resident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA).

ISTANBUL

The escalating global antipathy toward Israel, increasingly visible in cultural concepts like concerts, cinemas and sports events, underscores a profound international shift. This trend raises critical questions: How has Israel's image been irrevocably damaged [1] by the Gaza genocide? What are the implications of Israel becoming the most internationally reviled state? How is this deep isolation reflected within Israeli society, and what does it reveal that the genocide continues even as Israel's international standing plummets so dramatically?

The collapse of Israel's international image

The reality of Israel’s growing isolation was perhaps best summarized in a warning [2] by US President Donald Trump to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "Israel cannot fight the world, Bibi." The statement refers to the unprecedented surge of anti-Israel sentiment worldwide. This shift is producing concrete consequences: sanctions [3] by countries such as Spain, legal proceedings [4] at international courts, widespread calls [5] for boycotts, and the organization [6] of freedom flotillas. These global events are now a serious strategic concern in Washington and Tel Aviv.

Future historians may well mark this moment as a turning point in global attitudes toward the Israeli occupation. Dissent, once marginalized and labeled as “radical,” has gone mainstream, particularly within the Democratic Party in the US. Polls demonstrate a mass shift, with most Democrats turning against Israeli policy. For example, a Gallup poll found [7] that 59% of Democratic voters sympathize more with Palestinians, compared to only 21% with Israelis.

The Gaza genocide did more than provoke dissent: outright opposition to Israel has rapidly become mainstream and has crossed traditional partisan lines. This is alarming to those who seek to maintain the illusion of Israeli impunity. Even among its traditional bases, such as the Republican Party, significant erosion is evident. A University of Maryland poll found [8] that only 24% of Republican voters aged 18 to 34 sympathize more with Israelis than with Palestinians.

This global confrontation ultimately means that the world has fully perceived Israel for what it truly is, and what it has always been, as the methodical extermination of Palestinians laid bare its inherently violent, Zionist ideology.

The reflection within Israeli society

Netanyahu, a figure who has treated the genocidal war as a personal quest for renewed domestic popularity, operates under the delusion that world opinion is miraculously shifting in his favor. This belief is detached from reality, as a significant segment of his own populace held him in contempt even before the war began. Few people globally currently support him.

The propaganda war fought [9] by the pro-Israel media apparatus to obscure the genocide, which involved consistently seeking to blame Palestinians, ultimately failed. Ordinary people, amplified by social media, defeated a mainstream propaganda machine that had served as Israel's primary defensive line for decades. Furthermore, the erosion of support is so acute that Israel even attempted [10] to manipulate social media by paying influencers significant sums to circulate its fabrications.

This new reality represents hasbara's (Propaganda to defend abroad the point of view and policies of Israel) final stand. No amount of money or sophisticated campaign can successfully polish the image of a state that has so openly committed one of the most thoroughly documented genocides in recorded history.

The powerful, compelling moral authority of the once-marginalized Palestinian narrative has surged, while the unyielding dignity and resilience of the Palestinian people have garnered unprecedented global sympathy and support.

Preventing the narrative whitewash

The stark reality of what follows is that whether the open genocide in Gaza resumes or Palestinians are slowly erased under a suffocating system of blockade and apartheid, the world must not permit Israel and its vast network of supporters to rehabilitate the country's image in the global community's eyes.

Israel will inevitably deploy immense resources and vast sums of money to reclaim the support it has hemorrhaged, particularly within Western societies. The Zionist project will launch a multi-pronged assault on its isolation, utilizing a destructive array of strategies: aggressive smear campaigns, [11] calculated intimidation, strategic legal action, and unprecedented investment in social media. They understand that the power of traditional media to control the narrative over the occupation, violence, and colonial drives is broken. The battle for perception now moves to every digital platform.

Our moral imperative is clear: we must ensure this narrative whitewash never succeeds. This commitment is owed to Gaza and to all of Israel’s victims. With nearly a quarter of a million Palestinians killed or wounded over a two-year genocide—a catastrophic and rising toll—the international community must secure accountability for those responsible.

To allow Israel to revive its image is to give it the necessary political cover to carry out a future genocide. This cannot be an option. We must use every power at our disposal to prevent it. The stain of this genocide must remain indelible.

[1] https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2025/10/16/israel-is-in-a-rare-position-strong-and-isolated_6746499_23.html

[2] https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/trump-netanyahu-told-me-everyone-likes-him-now-i-said-more-importantly-they-are-loving-israel-again/

[3] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/8/spain-imposes-total-arms-embargo-on-israel-to-stop-genocide-in

[4] https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-state-palestine-icc-pre-trial-chamber-i-rejects-state-israels-challenges

[5] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/29/letter-sanctions-israel-gaza-starvation

[6] https://freedomflotilla.org

[7] https://news.gallup.com/poll/657404/less-half-sympathetic-toward-israelis.aspx

[8] https://sadat.umd.edu/sites/sadat.umd.edu/files/Young%20Republicans%20Final.pdf

[9] https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/05/israel-targeted-lawmakers-in-disinformation-campaign-00161906

[10] https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/05/israel-targeted-lawmakers-in-disinformation-campaign-00161906

[11] https://www.freepressunlimited.org/en/current/israeli-smear-campaigns-have-disastrous-repercussions-journalists-gaza-free-press-unlimited

*Opinions expressed in this article are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect Anadolu's editorial policy.