As Islamophobia explodes across X and Western media, remember this leaked Israeli government study, a $million PR project designed to make people fear Muslims to rebuild Israel’s image.
In recent months, a leaked report commissioned by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and executed by Mark Penn’s Stagwell Group (the same PR conglomerate tied to U.S. politics through SKDK) was published.
It’s pure psychological warfare disguised as market research.
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The study ran across the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, and Spain, testing what messages could make Western audiences “rethink” their views on Israel.
The findings were damning: most Europeans saw Israel as genocidal and apartheid. But the PR firms found a much easier way to shift that, by weaponizing fear of Islam.
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The leaked data shows just how bad Israel’s image had become:
🔹 Across Europe, over half of respondents were unfavorable toward Israel 72% in Spain, 59% in France, 58% in Germany.
🔹 Meanwhile, Palestinians scored higher favorability than Israelis in nearly every country surveyed.
Faced with this, Israel’s PR advisers found one reliable tool to reverse it: fear of Islam.
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By mid-2025, Israel’s own polling showed the narrative had collapsed.
🇫🇷 In France, 59% sided with Palestinians, only 41% with Israel.
🇪🇸 In Spain, 71% backed Palestinians, the lowest support for Israel in Europe.
🇬🇧 In the UK, Gen Z favored Palestinians 2-to-1.
The younger the audience, the less Israel’s messaging worked.
That’s when their PR firms turned to a new tactic: fear of Islam itself.
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After realizing empathy for Palestinians couldn’t be reversed, the campaign found something that worked: fear.
Across every country surveyed, over 75% said “Radical Islam” was a threat to their nation.
The report concluded this framing was “universally effective.”
Rather than defending Israel on moral grounds, they began equating Palestinian identity itself with “Jihadism” and “hatred.”
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The final phase of Stagwell’s survey revealed a consistent pattern across the U.S. and Europe:
• Majorities in France, Spain, and Germany agreed that Israel is committing war crimes and genocide.
• Roughly two-thirds viewed Israel as an apartheid state that deprives Palestinians of rights.
• About three-quarters believed those killed in Gaza were mostly civilians.
These findings marked a tipping point. Public perception of Israel had hardened, and from here, the focus of the research shifted from measurement to manipulation.
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When Stagwell tested which narratives most effectively boosted sympathy for Israel across all five countries, the top-performing messages shared a pattern: fear and dehumanization.
Across markets, statements that invoked “radical Islam,” “nuclear threats,” and graphic violence by Hamas performed best.
Messages emphasizing coexistence or human rights did not appear in the top tier.
The most effective framing, statistically, wasn’t about Israel at all, it was about making audiences afraid of Muslims.
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When broken down by country, the messaging pattern becomes even clearer.
Across the UK, Germany, France, and Spain, Stagwell found that the most effective narratives were those that:
• Framed Hamas and Gaza through graphic, religious violence (“a culture of death”)
• Linked Islam to global threats (Iran, Jihad, terrorism)
• Blended moral panic with liberal values (“Hamas persecutes gays”)
In short: it’s easier to make Westerners fear Muslims than to make them sympathize with Israel.
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After months of testing fear, trauma, and anti-Muslim framing, this was the outcome.
Public favorability toward Israel rose by 22 to 27 percent across all countries. Not because of diplomacy or peace efforts, but because fear works.
Maybe it’s easier to get people to hate than to make them care.
Maybe it’s the lingering echo of the post-9/11 anti-Islam wave.
This leaked Stagwell report shows how governments shape emotion into policy, how public sentiment can be engineered, and how entire societies can be steered through fear, guilt, and distraction.
When you see Islamophobia flooding your feed, remember: this is what it was built for.
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