Israel is preparing to spend nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars on its propaganda arm as it seeks to counter a worsening global image shaped by the genocide in Gaza and regional wars, according to its national budget passed in March.
First reported by The Jerusalem Post, a total of $730m has been allocated to the national public diplomacy directorate, known by its Hebrew name Hasbara, which oversees Israeli propaganda.
The figure marks a sharp increase from the $150m set aside the previous year, which had already surged to roughly 20 times pre-2023 levels.
The scale of the spending points to an intensified effort to improve Israel’s international standing as negative perceptions grow, including in allied countries such as the United States.
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Pope Leo XIV has appointed a man who had once entered the United States as an undocumented immigrant, hidden in the trunk of a car, as the new bishop of West Virginia.
Thousands have joined an economic blackout for International Workers’ Day, as part of 3,500 “May Day Strong” events across the country. Organizers have called for “no school, no work, no shopping”, with walkouts, marches, block parties and demonstrations held outside of institutions such as the New York Stock Exchange.
Senate Democrats called BS, literally, on Donald Trump’s claim that the war in Iran is over, in a formal letter the president sent on Friday to Republican House speaker Mike Johnson and Republican senator Chuck Grassley, the president pro tempore of the Senate.
Republican Oklahoma state Senate candidate Barry Christian was found dead Thursday, the State Bureau of Investigation confirmed in a social media news release. He was last seen Tuesday in Sayre, Oklahoma.
A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday determined that President Trump’s halt on processing immigration applications for citizens of countries listed under his travel ban was unlawful, granting an injunction on a policy she determined was unfairly leaving thousands in limbo.
