A former member of the Israeli military spokesperson's unit has publicly admitted to directly altering and manipulating information released to news media regarding armed operations across Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Ayelet Kroizer revealed that press statements were deliberately customized to build domestic public support and secure international backing, which included routinely classifying innocent Palestinians as terrorists.
Kroizer disclosed her experiences in a public statement posted on the X platform, where she also announced her new position as spokesperson for Breaking the Silence. The Israeli organization collects and documents testimonies from military veterans regarding human rights abuses in the occupied territories.
"During my service, I manipulated the details released to the media. I saw how the word 'terrorist' was attached even to innocent Palestinians and how statements were tailored to the target audience and the objective set for it," Kroizer stated in her public post.
Accusing the spokesperson's unit of operating like a commercial public relations firm rather than a transparent public body, Kroizer described how information was framed differently depending on the intended audience. For the domestic Israeli public, she explained that messaging was designed to bolster confidence in the military, leaving the public's right to know as a secondary concern at best. When addressing foreign audiences to establish international legitimacy, she noted that "the price was the truth."
Kroizer also described the systematic handling of mass civilian casualty announcements following military strikes. "I learned how to report dozens of deaths in a single strike and automatically add that we regret any harm to uninvolved people. That was the routine of my service… I had never been good at staying silent in the face of injustice, but here I was being asked to do PR for it," she wrote.
Raised in an ultra-Orthodox community, Kroizer had waived her religious exemption to enlist three years ago during the war, acting on the belief that she was serving to defend the nation. Moving into her new advocacy role, she called on fellow military personnel to share their own accounts, writing: "If you served during the war, don't stay silent either."
The disclosures come amid ongoing military actions since October 2023. Official estimates indicate that the war in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of over 74,000 Palestinians and injured more than 175,000 others, while destroying approximately 90 percent of the territory's civilian infrastructure.
Related Articles
Mr. Udoy is a professional Web Developer and Blogger with 7+ years of experience in the tech world. He specializes in web architecture and digital storytelling. As the driving force behind worldincidents.com, he focuses on delivering high-quality, well-researched content to a global audience.