David Sarange
NY Post, Jan. 28, 2023
“Starved of information, Iranians appear to want what we are offering.”
Four hundred and fifty million. That’s the number of times social media users across the globe engaged with Farsi-languge digital content generated by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs last year. And guess what, 93% of these viewers were in Iran – a country committed to wiping Israel off the map.
For more than a decade, Israel’s digital diplomacy team has maintained channels in more than 50 languages which reach some 2 billion people each year. But somehow Farsi has become the most popular language of all – even more than Hebrew and English combined.
How did this happen? For one thing, unlike in other, more digitally cautious nations, Israeli diplomats can post both personal and professional content with relatively few restrictions. This openness suits a country where technology and innovation are our greatest competitive edges. And the digital sphere is no exception – particularly when it comes to dealing with our enemies.
The United States and the West have much to learn from Israel’s efforts to penetrate audiences in hostile nations. Consider Iran. In a country where traditional and social media networks are heavily censored, millions use VPNs to access content blocked by the regime. For more than a decade, Israel has worked within these constraints to build an online community of Iranians interested in learning about Israel, a place Iranian leaders have long called “the Little Satan.”
Israel’s digital journey in Iran is proof that both governments – and their people – need little more than a smartphone to shape public opinion abroad. To do so, governments must first and foremost speak the languages of their target audiences — literally and metaphorically.
The woman behind our Israel in Persian accounts on Twitter and Instagram escaped Iran as a teenager and moved to Israel where she lives today. Persian food, holidays and Farsi are not just hobbies for her, they’re core components of her identity and Iranians following @IsraelinPersian can see themselves in the content she produces on Twitter and Instagram. … [To read the full article, click here]
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