Israel’s propaganda directorate being sued by unpaid activists claiming millions

Former Israeli spokesperson Eylon Levy is not part of the lawsuit - but says he is owed money by Israel’s public diplomacy directorate

Former Israeli spokesperson Eylon Levy, pictured in 2024, is one of a number of influencers who say they are owed money by Israel’s Hasbara directorate (AFP)

By Nadav Rapaport in Tel Aviv, Israel

Published date: 5 March 2026 14:53 GMT | Last update: 11 hours 49 mins ago

Former employees of Israel’s national public diplomacy directorate, which oversees Israeli propaganda, are demanding millions of shekels for unpaid work carried out since October 2023, according to Israeli daily Calcalist.

Known by its Hebrew name, Hasbara, the national public diplomacy directorate is being sued by companies and contractors who provided their services in the first months of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which followed the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023.

Two private companies, which provided studios for Israeli leaders and funded activism in Europe, are demanding two million shekels ($650,000) between them.

Eylon Levy, a high-profile British-Israeli who served as an official government spokesperson until March 2024, said that while he is owed money, he has grown tired of trying to get it and is not participating in the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Levy confirmed this to Middle East Eye. Despite no longer working officially for the Israeli government, the influencer, who was educated at London’s University College School (UCS) and the University of Oxford, has continued his Hasbara work to this day.

“The UK Government is in complete denial that Iran attacked Britain. It tried to kill British soldiers,“ Levy posted on his X account on Wednesday, referring to missiles fired towards the British Royal Air Force’s Akrotiri base in Cyprus.

“Why does Iran even have an ambassador in the UK? It is an enemy state. Expel him,” Levy wrote on his account, which has 250,000 followers.

Israeli propaganda worth millions

According to the Calcalist report, dozens of independent Hasbara activists and contractors were hired after 7 October, as the Hasbara directorate was understaffed.

Some of the activists and influencers were not formally employed by the state, but through private contractors. “Thus, private production companies became a payment channel for those representing Israel abroad,” the report said. Contractors who worked with the directorate claimed that “the work was always messy”.

One company, which provided Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant with a dedicated studio for interviews, is now demanding more than half a million shekels ($160,000) for unpaid work.

Another company, called Intellect, is demanding more than 1.5 million shekels ($487,000) from the Israeli prime minister’s office, which oversees the Hasbara directorate.

‘Private production companies became a payment channel for those representing Israel abroad’

- Calcalist, Israeli daily

According to Calcalist, the company “funded flights to The Hague, which were used by influencer activists who operated against pro-Palestinian demonstrations ahead of the hearings at the court in The Hague”.

The prime minister’s office said that while there were “irregularities in the contracting practices of the public diplomacy directorate”, it could not elaborate because legal procedures are underway.

Since October 2023, Israel’s hasbara efforts have also been conducted by the foreign ministry and the diaspora ministry, which have both dedicated huge sums of money to distribute Israeli propaganda denying allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide that have been directed at Israel.

Last September, the Israeli government approved an additional 150m shekels ($49m) budget for hasbara efforts in the foreign ministry, which was added to an already existing budget of 520 million shekels ($170m).

The additional funding was taken out of the budget for higher education. In the same month, the foreign ministry, headed by Gideon Saar, established a new public diplomacy directorate, which was expected to employ bloggers and social media influencers, as hasbara efforts were seen in Israel as failing.

In June 2024, it was revealed that Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli led a hasbara campaign that targeted US college campuses and sought to redefine antisemitism in US law.

A year later, in May 2025, Chikli’s ministry offered settlement municipalities up to a million shekels ($325,000) for conducting hasbara in Israel and abroad.