For the last two to three years, the world has been told that support for Israel is collapsing across the West. Social media feeds appear flooded with hostility toward the Jewish state. Millions of social media posts, endless protests, viral videos, celebrities, influencers and political commentators repeating the same rhetoric day after day create the impression that Israel stands isolated while the world unites against it. But much of this perception is deeply misleading. It is not primarily the result of a sudden universal moral awakening. It is the outcome of demographics, digital algorithms, ideological mobilization and the politics of numbers.
Demographics and Unifying Themes
There are roughly two billion Muslims in the world. One out of every four human beings on Earth. While the Muslim world is divided in many areas politically, ethnically and geographically, opposition toward Israel remains one of the strongest unifying themes across large parts of it. For many, opposition to Israel is not merely a political position. It is tied to identity, religion, culture and collective consciousness. Support for the Palestinian cause is often treated not as a policy preference but as a moral obligation deeply rooted within communal life. Even if only a relatively small percentage actively engage online every day, the numerical force generated by such a population is enormous.
Algorithmic Amplification
The rise of social media has dramatically amplified this reality. In the past, public discourse was filtered through newspapers, television networks, editors and institutional gatekeepers. Today, the battlefield is controlled by algorithms that reward outrage, repetition, emotional intensity, tribal loyalty and volume. Platforms such as TikTok, X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube do not measure truth. They measure engagement. The more emotionally charged the content, the more aggressively it spreads. Under these conditions, a massive and highly motivated online population can dominate the digital landscape, regardless of whether it reflects the views of broader Western society.
Commercial Incentives for Anti-Israel Rhetoric
This distortion is intensified further by powerful personal incentives. Anti-Israel rhetoric has become commercially rewarding. It generates clicks, followers, likes, shares, influence, relevance and money. Many public figures understand this perfectly well. Whether out of conviction, opportunism, or both, an increasing number of influencers and commentators have learned that hostility toward Israel is profitable. Figures such as Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly, and many others operate within a digital economy where outrage is currency and anti-Israel content consistently delivers engagement.
Evidence of Imbalance
The power of demographics and algorithmic amplification can be observed at both the platform and individual level. Axios reported that, in the weeks following October 7, TikTok posts using #StandWithPalestine attracted nearly four times as many views globally as posts using #StandWithIsrael. A separate analysis by social-media analytics firm Humanz found a nearly fifteen-to-one imbalance between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel tagged content on Instagram and TikTok following October 7. One example among many is Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef, whose appearances on Piers Morgan’s program generated more than 40 million views collectively. During those interviews, Youssef compared Israel to a “narcissistic psychopath” that “makes you think it’s your fault.” By contrast, appearances by prominent pro-Israel figures such as Eylon Levy, Jonathan Conricus, and Douglas Murray generally attracted far smaller audiences. For media personalities operating in an attention-driven marketplace, the incentives are difficult to ignore.
