The Hasbara Handbook: Training Israel Activists to Deceive with Propaganda

Israeli Knesset member, Yifat Shasha-Biton said, “If you had fought from the first day on the level of propaganda with the same determination, that would have given us time and legitimacy in the world. And since the world is demanding that we expand aid, this means that the efforts of the Israeli Hasbara are not proving themselves.”

Before the genocide began in 2023, many people weren’t aware how deep Zionist propaganda goes, or how egregious or flawed the appeals are. “Hasbara” is their propaganda technique, it means “explanation” in Hebrew and its purpose is to control the narrative and persuade public opinion in favor of Israel. It is a rhetorical warfare campaign.

Israelis and Jews worldwide are taught to promote Israeli propaganda on college campuses with the Hasbara Handbook.

Students are trained to influence other students to support Israel and hate Palestinians with the 130-page Hasbara Handbook. They are instructed to engage in bad-faith debates on campuses, gain student’s trust with an ulterior motive in mind, and manipulate in order to push pro-Israel propaganda. The handbook frames itself as being “fairly centrist. . . in an attempt not to offend anybody,” but explicitly teaches its readers that in order to advocate for Israel they must use disingenuous arguments and manipulation.

Debate techniques for “Israel Advocacy” include:

• “Neutralizing negativity [which] is about attempting to counter harmful impressions and accusations. This is the side of hasbara that is concerned with the defense of Israel. . . This often involves arguing over sequences of events, attempting to reframe debates to focus on different issues, and placing events in a wider context, so that the difficulty of Israel’s situation is understood in a more positive light.”
• “Pushing positivity [which] attempts to demonstrate the good things about Israel’s case. The aim to is [sic] make people see Israel in a good light and have sympathy with her. . . This often involves setting the agenda, focusing on some of the more positive features of Israel, and taking the lead in attacking the Palestinian leadership in an effort to allow people to view Israel favorably in comparison.”
• “Agenda setting: The person who sets the agenda will usually win the debate. Reactivity forces Israeli activists to be constantly on the defensive. . . However by setting the agenda Israel activists get to determine what to talk about, and can therefore discuss the things they feel help promote the pro-Israel message.  . . It is much easier to feed students falafel at a party than to explain why Zionism isn’t racism.”
• Attempting to persuade people to their agenda first because “uncritical audiences believe something if they hear it first and hear it often. People tend to believe the first thing they hear about a certain issue.”
• Organizing “proactive events and activities” to bring students together in a fun environment so the Israeli activists can gain their trust so they can then persuade them of their mission.
• “Point scoring: a method of communication that prioritizes making certain points favorable to the speaker, and attacking opponents of the speaker by trying to undermine their positions. Point scoring communication ought to give the appearance of rational debate, whilst avoiding genuine discussion.” The handbook gives many phrases and points to make.
• Admitting to Israel’s failings and criticizing the actions to appear agreeable in a debate. “This can be done by reframing comments, for example: “I understand where you are coming from, personally I also think that it was wrong of the army to destroy those houses, however you should also consider that Israelis are under a daily threat of terrorist attack.”
• Walking away if the Israeli activists aren’t winning the debate because “militant Palestinians or extreme Leftists aren’t interested in considering reasonable arguments.”

The handbook explicitly teaches that Israel activists should use emotional manipulation, and rhetorical and logical fallacies in order to control the narrative and conversation. Rhetorical fallacies like Straw Manning, Ad Hominem, False Equivalencies, Appeal to Fear, Whataboutism, Slippery Slope, Appeal to Authority, Appeal to Ignorance, False Dilemma, Bandwagon, and Red Herring arguments are all used to promote a pro-Israel agenda.

The most disingenuous arguments include:

• Equating All Criticism with Antisemitism: While antisemitism is real and dangerous, the handbook conflates legitimate political criticism of Israel with antisemitic intent, which shuts down honest discourse.
• Framing Tactics Over Substance: It emphasizes controlling debates through emotional framing and “buzzwords” rather than addressing core issues, which undermines genuine discussion.
• Victimhood Inversion: It often re-centers Israel as the primary victim, even in asymmetrical contexts like genocide, colonization, occupation or blockade.
• Selective History and Context Omission: The guide often frames the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without acknowledging the historical roots of displacement, occupation, and power asymmetry—presenting a one-sided narrative.
• False Equivalency: It encourages equating state military actions with militant violence, ignoring scale, legality, and civilian impact.
• Delegitimization of Palestinian Voices: The handbook implies Palestinian claims lack legitimacy and advocate for violence, discouraging empathy or recognition of their grievances.

But students on college campuses are no longer falling for Israeli propaganda and have been protesting against the genocide for years. They face arrest, police brutality, pro-Israeli counter-protesters assaulting them, injustice and silencing, visa revocation, and universities withholding students’ degrees in retaliation for their protests, but pro-Palestine protesters and their supporters persist.