There is a sentence repeated around the world with quiet resignation:

“Israel has lost the narrative.”

It is usually followed by a shrug. A sense that the world has made up its mind. That the game is rigged. That nothing can be done.

This is not analysis. It is surrender. I am here to tell the world: Israel has not lost the narrative.

Israel has abandoned it.

Let’s say it clearly: the traditional model of Hasbara is over.

It assumes that if Israel just explains itself better, if it produces more facts, more context, more historical timelines, the world will understand.

But we are no longer living in a world where facts lead to conclusions.

We are living in a world where identities determine which facts are even allowed to matter. You cannot fact-check your way out of an identity problem.

And today, Israel has an identity problem.

Israel Has Been Turned Into “Them”

Across large parts of the world, especially among younger audiences, Israel is no longer perceived as a country. It is perceived as a category. A symbol of power. Of colonialism. Of otherness. It has been placed, neatly and efficiently, into the global narrative of “them.”

And once you are “them,” nothing you say is heard on its own........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)