Survey Shows Emotionally Engaging Content Shifts Views On Israel Among American Young Adults

Survey of 1,000 American young adults finds emotionally engaging social-media content leads to a more positive view of Israel. SHUTTERSTOCK

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Over the past 20 years, Israel’s detractors have managed to make anti-Israel sentiment trendy among Millennials and Gen Z. Social media makes it easier than ever to spread malicious or ignorant misinformation about Israel.

Now going into its 10th year, ISRAEL21c’s Digital Ambassadors Internship Program for college students has countered that trend through original, nonpolitical social-media content about Israeli people and their positive impact on our world. They seek to educate, inform and initiate meaningful conversations with their peers.

Can these efforts make a measurable difference in shifting perceptions from negative to positive?

In June, ISRAEL21c partnered with Research Success Technologies to find out.

We surveyed 1,000 18- to 25-year-old Americans who have never visited Israel and found that 63 percent of them can be persuaded to view Israel more positively through engaging, visually appealing social-media content.

This 63% comprises young adults holding “mid-range” emotions (curiosity, concern, confusion) and either no opinion (44%) or a negative opinion (19%) about Israel’s war in Gaza. (A quarter of respondents strongly disapprove of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and are unlikely to be persuaded otherwise, while 12% approve or strongly approve of Israel’s conduct.)

The persuadable majority do not closely follow Israel news and aren’t familiar with Israel. They express interest in seeing personal stories that offer context and cultural insights about Israeli society and traditions. References from respected news sources, including influencers they already trust, help validate the reliability of the information.