Israel’s defense establishment is training soldiers and other defense officials to conduct psychological operations designed to “influence public consciousness” in Israel and abroad, an internal Defense Ministry tender published last July and obtained by the Israeli investigative outlet The Hottest Place in Hell reveals. The courses, taught in Hebrew and English by academics who are not affiliated with the military, are intended for defense personnel based both domestically and overseas, as well as unspecified “foreign partners.”

Among the offerings are courses on how to use data to discretely shape the attitudes and actions of target audiences, intelligence gathering for such operations, and influencer training. Most of the courses are geared toward “offensive” influence operations — those aimed at actively disrupting or manipulating the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of target audiences rather than simply protecting an existing narrative. They include training in advertising and marketing content, alongside courses on cyber warfare and intelligence gathering on target audiences.

In one course, participants learn to apply “Black Hat” techniques — a term used to describe manipulation methods that circumvent tech platforms’ rules around cybercrime, cyber warfare, or other malicious activity. The army course explicitly states that this module is designed for “the distribution and promotion of illegitimate content using technological tools and solutions — a route that bypasses Facebook and Google.”

Another course teaches participants how to plan “information operations for the purpose of influencing public consciousness in the local and international arena,” including how to craft and disseminate messages tailored to a target population, assess their impact, and apply the lessons to “future operations.”

Although the syllabus does not make explicit the targets or substance of the psychological operations and influence campaigns taught in the courses, it states in several places that the training is conducted in accordance with the “considerations and expectations” of Israel’s political echelon. In other words, at the government’s directive.

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