Israeli Foreign Ministry Launches Paid Global Social Media Campaign to Boost Israel's Image
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has initiated an unprecedented public diplomacy project called the "Jewish People’s Membership Card," aiming to recruit over 300,000 active social media advocates worldwide. In partnership with the World Zionist Organization, the initiative seeks to create a large-scale, authentic network of message distributors, primarily targeting Jewish communities and Israel supporters globally. Participants will be financially rewarded based on measurable exposure metrics, with payments starting in mid-2026 at up to 0.015 shekels per new exposure, decreasing in 2027. This pay-per-performance model is unusual for the public sector and aims to generate hundreds of millions of content views to improve Israel’s international image.
The project’s initial pilot phase will run for three months in the U.S. Tristate area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut), targeting 1,000 activists and 20 million exposures at a cost of approximately 1.5 million shekels. The second phase in 2026 plans to expand to countries like France and South America, aiming for 10,000 activists and 280 million exposures with a budget of up to 4.3 million shekels. By 2027, the program expects to engage 17,250 activists generating hundreds of millions of quarterly exposures.
To incentivize long-term participation, activists will receive a "membership card" accumulating points based on their exposure contributions. Rewards include access to Israeli heritage sites, global digital benefits, and food vouchers, alongside symbolic incentives to strengthen ties to Israel. The Ministry emphasized that the World Zionist Organization’s existing infrastructure and status as a national institution justified a direct contract without a tender, approved by the Finance Ministry’s exemption committee until the end of 2027. Real-time data on campaign performance will be available via a dedicated dashboard.
This initiative reflects a strategic blend of diplomacy, social media engagement, and community mobilization to enhance Israel’s global image through grassroots digital advocacy.
