Shabak Present in the Digital Space to Target Palestinian Awareness

Ramallah – "Mousa" appears as a cartoon character with innocent youthful features in short sponsored videos on social media pages such as Facebook, where he "makes mistakes" in the eyes of the Israeli occupation, ultimately ending up behind bars. The clip concludes with a warning phrase saying "Don't be like Mousa."

This is not a community awareness campaign but one of the latest and most prominent tools of the Israeli intelligence agency "Shabak" that has recently flooded the phones of Palestinians.

This simple clip summarizes the shifts in methods of targeting Palestinians; over the years, the Israeli intelligence agency no longer confines itself to its heavy presence in dark interrogation rooms and camps but has sought to expand its presence in the digital space, exploiting every possible area to direct its messages to Palestinians, influence their collective awareness, and attempt to shape it to serve its policies.

Some pages on Facebook do not appear to be issued by a security agency, as their discourse comes in a tone of empathy and concern for family and the future. However, behind these soft phrases, precisely targeted messages move toward Palestinians, bearing the fingerprints of the Israeli intelligence agency "Shabak."

The approach of this agency's tools has shifted from "security harshness" to "soft and personal communication"; for example, "Captain Radi" or "Captain Adam" appear in sponsored posts inviting casual chats, attempting to transform the intelligence officer from an "enemy in Palestinian memory" to a "content creator" or "solution provider" through social media for job seekers, medical referrals, and others.

Simultaneously, during daily raids of Palestinian cities and towns, occupation forces distribute cards containing contact numbers and platform addresses for intelligence officers to facilitate direct access to the population.

Media professional and digital security specialist Saeed Abu Maala says, "The goal of this presence goes beyond publishing to breaking psychological barriers with the public and normalizing following or communicating with an intelligence officer."

He points out that this style of personal communication is an extension of what the "Coordinator" page does, referring to the social media account of the Israeli government coordinator in the West Bank, and that "it may lead to economic pressure, attempts to topple, and the creation of a fake Palestinian public opinion hostile to the resistance."

Abu Maala told Al Jazeera Net that "the danger of this content does not lie in itself but in the absence of corresponding national awareness and mobilization, especially among young age groups and teenagers, who may be attracted to 3D animations and visual effects without realizing that the entities behind them are Israeli security agencies waging a psychological war against Palestinians."

He adds that "these pages rely on simple but effective visual methods, such as 2D and 3D animations, to simplify messages and speed their reach to a wide audience."

Abu Maala notes that the impact of this digital activity is more political than security-related, "as it promotes messages aimed at reshaping Palestinian awareness and influencing attitudes toward resistance, prisoners, and national constants."

According to media professional Abu Maala, these pages also seek to create a false image of Palestinian public opinion, weakening confidence in steadfastness and hinting at migration as a solution, serving the occupation’s goals in demographic, psychological, and political change.

Nidaa Basoumi, a researcher at the "Sada Social" Center specializing in monitoring and analyzing digital activity, explains that this activity takes the form of accounts managed by Israelis with declared identities publishing in Hebrew or Arabic, broadcasting direct hate speech against Palestinians.

She also points to other Arabic-speaking accounts managed by Israeli entities designed to appear as if they belong to Arab individuals, in addition to fake accounts or "bots," which are software fully managed by artificial intelligence without real people, used to perform quick tasks such as increasing interaction.

Basoumi told Al Jazeera Net that the main goal of these campaigns is "misleading and reconditioning public opinion," noting that during the recent war on Gaza, before every targeting of a hospital or journalist, there was a campaign through these accounts describing the person as a terrorist or the place as a military base or containing tunnels.

Basoumi details the misinformation mechanisms relied upon by the occupation and its intelligence agencies in the digital space as:

On his part, academic researcher Ihab Awais points out that this digital presence is part of modern psychological warfare, interacting with the Palestinian or Arab opponent without barriers of control or intimidation, using studied patterns capable of penetrating the recipient by exploiting their social, cultural, religious, and political vulnerabilities.

Awais notes that "these pages are designed to suit the nature of the targeted audience, aiming to shake resistant ideas, then gradual penetration, leading to planting ideas aligned with the Israeli narrative, resulting in something like automatic recruitment or normalizing occupation narratives and neutralizing popular rejection."

He explains that the occupation manages pages to reshape Palestinian awareness and influence public opinion, noting that "the greatest burden does not fall only on official or fake pages but also on well-known influencers and voices intersecting with the occupation’s discourse."

Awais concludes by saying, "The Palestinian public has an innate sense and quick ability to analyze the direction of information and often distinguishes whether it serves the occupier or the resistance, but that is not enough to confront the Israeli effort," clarifying that the public’s sense is spontaneous, "while the occupation’s propaganda is based on a systematic, studied, and organized effort, giving it greater ability to continue and influence."