On October 15, 2025, The Washington Post reported that the Israeli government had used YouTube ads to reshape the narrative surrounding the man-made famine in Gaza. Internal emails obtained by the Post show that Google decided these ads did not violate its policies — nor would any future Israeli videos making similar claims about food or famine in Gaza violate Google’s safety and trust rules.
The Washington Post reported that last August, after the United Nations declared an accelerating famine, the Israeli Foreign Ministry published a video showing a fruit and vegetable market as part of an ad campaign denying famine. Despite receiving complaints that the campaign was spreading misinformation, Google confirmed that it did not violate its policies.
The Post revealed an internal email stating that Google employees had received numerous complaints about Israeli government YouTube ads concerning food access in Gaza, but decided to keep the ads online.
Israel Uses Google Ads to Promote Its Narrative, Denying Starvation in Gaza
In August, just two days after the U.N. declared that famine was rapidly spreading in the Gaza City region, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a YouTube video presenting the opposite message: “Cynical politicians and biased media are lying.”
The August 24 video depicted bustling street markets with vendors selling fruits, vegetables, bread, and sweets, marked with a date label of July–August. On-screen text asserted, “There is food in Gaza. Any other claim is a lie.” The Israeli government paid to promote the video in three languages, and it has garnered over 7 million English-language views on the Ministry’s YouTube channel. The ad last appeared on August 29.
According to an internal Google email reviewed by The Washington Post, the video is part of a paid Israeli government campaign on Google-owned YouTube that “focus on whether or not a famine is taking place in Gaza,” Videos addressing food access in Gaza are among the most-watched content on the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ YouTube channel, with individual English-language uploads attracting millions of views. The campaign has also been promoted in Polish, Italian, Greek, and German.
Google Ads: A Tool for Disinformation?
The online campaign has prompted numerous complaints accusing the ads of spreading misinformation — including some from government authorities — according to a September 4 email and an interview with a Google employee who requested anonymity to protect their job.
The email was written by a member of Google’s Trust and Safety team, responsible for overseeing and enforcing the company’s content policies. These policies include a rule that bans ads which “deceive users by excluding relevant product information or providing misleading information,” according to Google’s website.
Despite the numerous complaints filed against Israel’s videos about food access in Gaza, they remain online — and, according to the internal Google email, they are expected to stay that way.
“The escalated ads do not violate our policies,” the September email stated. The staff member explained that Google’s legal and Trust and Safety teams had concluded the videos did not break the company’s rules prohibiting ads containing “Dangerous or Derogatory Content, Shocking Content, Sensitive Events, and Unreliable Claims.”
Employees were informed that any future video ads by the Israeli government making similar claims about food, famine, or humanitarian aid in Gaza are “not in scope” of those policies, and therefore would not be treated as violations.
Google’s $45 Million Deal With Netanyahu’s Office to Promote Israeli Propaganda
Google signed a $45 million contract with the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office to run a global digital ad campaign promoting Israeli state messaging amid its ongoing genocide in Gaza, according to Drop Site’s investigation.
On March 2, 2025, just hours after Israel announced a full blockade on food, medicine, fuel, and other humanitarian supplies into Gaza, lawmakers in Jerusalem demanded clarity about how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office planned to manage the public relations fallout.
Avichai Edrei, spokesperson for the Israeli military, later told legislators that preparations were active, adding, “We could also decide to launch a digital campaign in this context to explain that there is no hunger and present the data,” as per Drop Site News’ report.
One of the campaign’s most visible ads ran on YouTube, showing Palestinians cooking and eating before closing with the message, “There is food in Gaza. Any other claim is a lie.”
The ad circulated as global outrage grew over starvation and malnutrition deaths in Gaza, and just days before the U.N. declared famine in Gaza City and surrounding areas.
According to Drop Site News, the Israeli government also spent $3 million on an ad campaign with social media platform X and used U.S. influencers to promote its narrative at the same time as Israel barred international journalists from entering Gaza and Israeli occupation forces were routinely killing Palestinian reporters covering the destruction on the ground.
A Repeated Strategy: How Israel Uses Paid Ads to Undermine Its Critics
The extensive use of Google Ads by the Israeli occupation reflects its reliance on these platforms as strategic tools in propaganda campaigns aimed at discrediting individuals and human rights organizations that criticize it—especially those seeking to hold it accountable for violations.
The Israeli government did not respond to a request for comment. It released the ad accusing the media and politicians of “lying” about food conditions in Gaza shortly after publicly challenging the famine declaration made by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the U.N.-backed initiative.
The Israel Defense Forces issued an eight-page rebuttal claiming that the IPC assessment “distorts reality” and relies on biased data allegedly sourced from Hamas.
In an emailed statement, Google spokesperson Michael Aciman said the company has “clear policies that govern the types of ads we allow on our platforms and our teams are constantly examining how those policies apply to current events.”
He added, “If we find any ads that violate our policies, we block or remove them.”
Complaints About Google’s Ad Policy
The internal Google email approving Israel’s ads did not specify which government authorities had raised complaints about the YouTube videos. However, Polish state research agency NASK, confirmed via email that it had informed Google that some of the Israeli government’s videos violated the company’s policies.
“NASK’s experts highlighted manipulated or false content in Google Ads and YouTube videos,” the institute said in a statement to The Post. “According to Community Standards, such content should be removed.” Google dismissed the Polish government’s complaint regarding Israel’s videos, according to news reports.
Sam Woolley, an associate professor of communication at the University of Pittsburgh, said that online platforms have become key tools for governments seeking to shape public perception. “Governments understand that billions of people spend time on YouTube and other social media platforms, and because of that, they want to serve propaganda to people there,” he explained.
However, Woolley noted that if a government uses “a platform like YouTube to mislead users about a major conflict or crisis,” it could risk violating not only the platform’s own policies but also E.U. law.
A Google Trust and Safety employee, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect their job, said the tech industry has been retreating from strict fact-checking practices this year — beginning with Meta’s dismissal of its fact-checking team in January. These changes have coincided with broader corporate shifts across tech and other sectors. “It’s more hands-off,” the employee said. “As long as you’re not doing anything really bad, and you’re not calling for violence, you can have your ads running.” Misinformation is only considered a violation of Google’s policies if it falls under election interference or public health risks, he said.
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