In the age of data and technology, wars are fought not just on the battlefield but also on various forms of media – using information or misinformation, as the case may be.
No one understands this better than Eylon Levy, former spokesperson for Israel, founder of the Israeli Citizen Spokespersons’ Office (ICSO) and host of the ‘State of a Nation’ podcast. A graduate of Oxford and Cambridge, Levy finds himself wearing prized titles such as “Israel’s Defender: The Unstoppable Spokesperson”, “the voice of Israel”, described as “an eloquent, glib, and annoying know-it-all”, all at a young age of 33.
But his best description perhaps comes as a soldier for Israel, who could be found vehemently defending his country against onslaughts of misinformation and even slander in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war after the October 7th tragedy.
At one point, his unflinching refusal to bow down even cost him his job, when he was suspended by the Israeli government for responding to UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s post ‘urging Israel’ “to allow more [aid] trucks into Gaza”.
But just like the spirit of the country he stands for, this man remained resolute and unshakeable. Therefore, even after six months of defending Israel through the peak of the war on every possible TV channel, show and platform, when Levy was asked to leave he decided to found the Citizen Spokespersons’ Office, to ensure that the voice of Israel withstands the cacophonous flux in favour of Palestine that was coming from virtually all corners of the world, including the United Nations.
Levy’s Homecoming to Israel
Levy, who is in his 30s, was born in the UK and made ‘aliyah’ in 2014 – 20 minutes after Operation Protective Edge.
“I got on a flight while the war was still raging, and landed twenty minutes after the ceasefire came into effect. Twelve hours later, I was already at the enlistment bureau ready to sign up for the army,” he said.
As fate would have it, while in that first war in 2014 he was fighting from the forefront on the ground, in the war of 2023, he was still fighting from the forefront – only on screens the world over.
He agrees that at the time if he had known that “10 years later they would be in another, bigger war with Hamas in Gaza, clearly that would not have been encouraging,” but remains steadfast in his stand that his move to Israel was born out of a desire to do something meaningful for Israel and the Jewish people.
Israel’s Lone Soldier in the Misinformation War
It was no unknown fact that at the time Eylon was brought on board, Israel struggled – especially due to the English language barrier – to put forth its side before the world media.
In fact, hardly a week after Eylon’s suspension, Prime Minister Netanyahu was quoted as saying that there are just no people around who could put together even two words in English.
In the backdrop, Eylon was a golden find for Israel. He quickly emerged as the lone soldier in the misinformation war against his country and could be found speaking on channels ranging from Britain’s BBC to India’s Citti Media.
And in speaking for Israel, he found his calling – and it was perhaps the passion with which he did his job that not only brought him international recognition as “the voice of Israel” but also helped positively shape Israel’s point of view before the world at a crucial time in the Israel-Hamas war, helping Israel not just stay afloat in the misinformation war, but even hit Hamas where it would hurt.
For instance, when the world was told, and repeatedly so that Israel was bombing ‘hospitals’ and ‘schools’, it was the voice of this soldier that informed the world that Israel was fighting against one of the most complex urban battlefields in the world – with Hamas building tunnels facilitating terrorism underneath these sheltered areas.
In fact he famously said once, “If the World Health Organization cannot bring itself to condemn a terrorist army for fighting a war under a hospital, what is the point of the World Health Organization?”
At a time when propaganda machineries working full-time told the world that Israel was killing ‘civilians’, it was Eylon who informed the world about the Hamas strategy to not just use human shields, but glorify human sacrifices, describing it as a “terrorist army (that) wages war from under and behind civilians.”
At a time when Hamas had diverse voices speaking the same words, emboldening their claims – whether true or false – people like Eylon gave words to, and amplified, Israel’s side of the story for the world.
ICSO’s Contribution to the War
Despite his achievements in his short tenure at the Prime Minister’s Office, Eylon was not satisfied with the completion of the task at hand, and decided to take his fight a step further.
“Israel is the only country in the world that finds itself constantly under attack, having to explain and justify itself all the time to everyone. And therefore, we’ve decided on a brand new concept of citizen spokespeople (…) We’re citizen spokespeople, ordinary people, people who have normal jobs will go on camera to defend our country, to the world.”
Thus, to fight the “wave of misinformation and vicious propaganda” that shrouded nearly every debate around Israel, Eylon trained ICSO “to fight for global public opinion to stand by Israel’s side as it fought to free the hostages and bring Hamas to justice.”
ICSO started doing live briefings every day on all social media platforms to break down the news, get down into the details, and equip Israel’s supporters with the tools they needed to make the case for Israel.
By giving people the tools they needed to fight for, and become Israel’s voice, ICSO essentially created and continues to create thousands of more soldiers just like Eylon to fight the information war and speak as private citizens.
ICSO continued fighting the war for “Israel’s legitimacy and its right to fight against the enemies threatening it with extermination(…) holding on to hostages”, long after the battle on the ground had stopped.
Thus, today, as Hamas terrorism-survivors return home to Israel, and Israel fights for the return of the rest, one needs to remember the contribution of these soldiers too.
Eylon’s Plans for Gen-Z and the Israeli Diaspora
Explaining the importance of the information war, Eylon realistically explained, “Just look at the numbers – there are 15 million of us, not all of whom are on our side, and two billion Muslims who are very consistent with their messaging, so of course the odds are stacked against us. It’s not a fair fight.”
He added, “…you see this with the United Nations as well, where the only thing that these countries can agree on is that they don’t like Israel. So they gang up on Israel because it gives them a way to cooperate and show how committed they are to multilateralism.”
To protect Israel on these fronts, Eylon has time and again emphasized on the importance of bringing together the Jews, including the Jewish diaspora and Gen-Z.
“If the kids your age can be in a tank fighting Hamas, you can go on campus and face the Hamas fangirls”, he beckons to the Jewish youth.
Evidently, from mobilizing support for the Israeli cause in Australia, to breaking down Zionism for Gen-Z, Eylon’s vision is clearly far-sighted and if we can follow through, it no doubt promises several victories for Israel and the Jews.
Levy can be followed on X and Instagram @EylonALevy. The Israeli Citizen Spokespersons’ Office can be found on Instagram, X, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
