01/06/2024

Inside the Israel-Hamas Information War

Masha Michelson has become the IDF's social media face

One of the most important people in Israel right now is a 22-year-old military press officer. In recent weeks, Masha Michelson has become the face of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on social media. With no combat training, Michelson has been trailing Israeli troops in Gaza to document the war from their point of view.

On Nov. 19, Michelson, garbed in green military fatigues and a flak jacket, filmed a night-vision tour of the tunnel shafts under Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City—evidence, she said, of a subterranean terrorist command center where they had found a cache of weapons—and posted it through the IDF's accounts on TikTok, Instagram and X, platforms where young audiences are increasingly turning against Israel’s war to destroy Hamas.

"When you need to address the world," Michelson told TIME, "they're more likely to listen to someone who looks like them."

Please select this link to read the complete article from TIME.