RSS
Jerusalem Tech Community Gathers to Develop Tools to Boost Israel’s Public Diplomacy Amid Gaza War
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen speaks during a press conference with Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis at the Foreign Ministry in Athens, Greece, July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi
Leaders of industry, government, and academia in Israel’s capital gathered at the headquarters of Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), a top venture capital fund headed by Erel Margalit, for a “hackathon” to develop tools to assist Israel in its public diplomacy efforts amid the Jewish state’s war with the Hamas terror group.
The event, in partnership with Israel’s Foreign Ministry, was developed to bring together the top technical talent in the capital city’s hi-tech scene for a three-day event to “help amplify Israel’s voice in the digital domain.”
Dubbed “HasbaraTech” — taking on the Hebrew word hasbara, the term used to denote efforts to explain Israel’s place in the world — the event combined top corporate and public partners to make it happen. Partners included private tech firms, top academic centers, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and Israeli government agencies at both the local and federal level.
At the event, a member of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit came to address the importance of their work.
Participants have been working on solutions such as a GIF generator to produce pro-Israel content, as well as a tool to share pro-Israel content on social media with just two clicks.
Lital Vilensky, head of innovation and marketing at the Hadassah Academic College’s Blender Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, explained the reasoning behind the event.
“How do we harness the ‘Startup Nation’ and all the brilliant minds here to amplify our voice in the world and compensate for our numerical gap?” she said. “The solution we found for this — a technology hackathon — for 48 hours, the best minds from Israeli hi-tech met together with the factors that lead Israeli hasbara to develop technological solutions for them that will increase Israel’s voice in the world.”
According to Jonathan Sagir, one of the event organizers, the hackathon aims to combat the “challenges identified as the main weak points of Israeli hasbara, including: fake news, developments to optimize the delivery of messages on social networks, and the development of tools to monitor and measure anti-Israeli biases in traditional media.”
The hackathon ends on Sunday afternoon, when the participants will present their built-out solutions to representatives of the Foreign Ministry at their headquarters in Jerusalem. Representatives from other ministries will be present as well. The goal is for some of the proposals to be picked up — through either direct funding or adaption of the tool — by any of the relevant ministries to help their hasbara efforts.
The event comes as Israel continues to face international pressure to curtail its military campaign in Gaza against Hamas, which launched the current war with its Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israeli communities. Pro-Israel advocates have argued that the Jewish state’s public relations strategy will be in many ways as important to the war effort as its military strategy.
The post Jerusalem Tech Community Gathers to Develop Tools to Boost Israel’s Public Diplomacy Amid Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.