MintCast
Alan MacLeod on Israeli Propaganda and Google's Complicity in Genocide
Israel could not be doing what it is doing without significant support from the West. And they have found some very powerful allies in Silicon Valley. Chief among these is Google, which has allowed the Israeli government to use its platforms to target tens of millions of Europeans with propaganda.
Joining the MintCast today to talk about his latest investigations into the collaboration between Israel and Google is MintPress News senior staff writer and podcast producer, Alan MacLeod.
His most recent article, "Inside Israel's Massive YouTube European Propaganda Blitz," notes how Tel Aviv has increased its foreign PR budget by 2,000%, with much of that money targeting Western audiences. In the past few weeks, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has spent millions targeting at least 45 million Europeans with YouTube ads. These messages present Iran as a deadly and imminent threat to Europe, position Israel as a humanitarian force in the region, and justify Israeli attacks on Iranian sites. Many of these videos clearly break YouTube's terms of service, which outlaw ads justifying violence. Israel, however, appears to receive a free pass.
Among the countries most targeted by this PR blitz are the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Greece. The scale of this operation is astonishing; many of the Greek ads have over two million views each. As MacLeod told Adley:
The entire world population of people who speak Greek is only about 13 million people. So we're talking about something like, close to 20% of all Greek-speaking people have been hit with these ads on YouTube alone. And we're not even talking about other ads on Google, on WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, et cetera."
Avid MintPress readers, however, will not be surprised to learn that Google is collaborating closely with Israel.
As MacLeod's article, "Wiz Acquisition Puts Israeli Intelligence In Charge of Your Google Data," noted, Google's top brass are avowedly pro-Israel, and have deep business and political connections to the Israeli government. In a 2012 meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, longtime company CEO, Eric Schmidt declared that "the decision to invest in Israel was one of the best that Google has ever made."
Earlier this year, Google purchased Israeli cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion. The price tag, 65 times Wiz's annual revenue, was a massive shot in the arm for a severely weakened Israeli economy.
The tax alone on such a purchase equated to a direct wealth transfer of 0.6% of Israeli GDP from Google into the Netanyahu administration's coffers. This led some to speculate whether the purchase was more about shoring up the Israeli economy than smart business tactics.
Adley and MacLeod also discussed the controversial Israeli spying group, Unit 8200. Described as the centerpiece of the Israeli surveillance state, Unit 8200 has been responsible for some of the most advanced and controversial cyberattacks in history, including September's Lebanese pager attacks.
Google has been actively recruiting from the ranks of Unit 8200.
Macleod's investigation, "The Former Israeli Spies Working in Top Jobs at Google, Facebook, and Microsoft," found at least 99 former Israeli spies working in important positions within Google. Among these are the company's Head of Strategy and Operations, Gavriel Goidel, who was previously Head of Learning at Unit 8200. Another man who travelled down the Unit 8200-to-Google pipeline is Ben Bariach, a former commander in the Israeli military unit, who later was tasked by Google to stamp out "controversial content" and "disinformation" on Google platforms.
Watch this important episode now to understand what the implications of this collaboration are for you and your most sensitive data online.
Mnar Adley is an award-winning journalist and editor and is the founder and director of MintPress News. She is also president and director of the non-profit media organization Behind the Headlines. Adley also co-hosts the MintCast podcast and is a producer and host of the video series Behind The Headlines. Contact Mnar at email protected or follow her on Twitter at @mnarmuh.
Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. He completed his PhD in 2017 and has since authored two acclaimed books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams. Follow Alan on Twitter for more of his work and commentary: @AlanRMacLeod.