Publications

On October 24-25, 2021, the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) held the third annual international conference of the Lipkin-Shahak Program on National Security and Democracy in an Age of Post-Truth and Fake News. The conference dealt with the connection between truth, trust, and national security, and included four panels that discussed: regulation of the technology giants in Israel and the United States; the concept of victory in wars over cognition, and which side triumphed in Operation Guardian of the Walls; the...

The military action during Operation Guardian of the Walls was complemented by social media activity, which conveyed and commented on developments in the Gaza Strip and cities in Israel with mixed Jewish and Arab populations for a variety of audiences: Israeli, Palestinian, Arab, and global. While it is hard to assess impact of the social media arena, effects appear to include increased fear among the public and organized participation in violent incidents, as well as influence on public opinion, attitudes toward Israel, and global...

National strategic communications are a key pillar of Israel’s national security, as was demonstrated once again in Operation Guardian of the Walls. The role of strategic communications should be equal to the government’s other main efforts during events of this sort – parallel to the military effort, the effort to defend the home front, and the international diplomatic effort. This approach properly positions strategic communications as one of the main strategic efforts that the state must pursue. However, despite its...

As in every kinetic military campaign against Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip, the cognitive aspect was embedded from the very beginning of Operation Guardian of the Walls, and its importance increased as the campaign progressed. The integration of the cognitive campaign with the kinetic is essential for the realization of military achievements in order to then reap political gains. For Israel, the first cognitive achievement required is a deep engraving in the minds of Hamas commanders and their associates, as well as in the...

In early 2019, the heads of the US intelligence agencies declared technologies used for online influence operations and election interference to be global threats that will “almost certainly” be used “to weaken democratic institutions, undermine US alliances and partnerships, and shape policy outcomes in the United States and elsewhere.”In retrospect it seems that their concerns proved false, and the use of various kinds of sophisticated fake news in the 2020 presidential elections, including deepfake, was limited and did not cause...

The COVID-19 pandemic erupted in what is commonly known as the “post-truth age,” when facts seemingly bear less importance than beliefs, emotions, and opinions. The occurrence of the pandemic in the post-truth age raises many questions regarding the role of facts in dealing with the crisis and the pandemic’s potential long term implications for the post-truth age. On May 27, 2020, the Lipkin-Shahak program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), “National Security and Democracy in an Era of Post-Truth and Fake News,”...

The coronavirus outbreak has been accompanied by rumors and fake news that aim to increase fear about the pandemic or to assign blame for its spread. The rumors are promoted by states with an interest in hiding their domestic situations or diverting attention from their handling of the issue, by ingenuous civilians, and by conspiracy theorists and the media, which repeat some of the lies. Over time there is a greater awareness of the dissemination of baseless or biased information, and a greater need to address the phenomenon. This...

President Trump’s relations with the American intelligence community reflect a deep crisis in the relations between intelligence agencies and decision makers, which are complex in any case. An analysis of the crisis reveals a complicated picture. Trump’s criticism is partly justified, and indeed speaks to fundamental problems afflicting the intelligence organizations in the United States. It appears, however, that underlying the crisis is Trump’s more basic and disturbing concept of the role that the mechanisms and...

This collection represents a collaborative effort by the Institute for the Research of the Methodology of Intelligence (IRMI) at the Israeli Intelligence Community Commemoration and Heritage Center and the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). It includes articles on the challenges of the cognitive campaign in the era of modern communications from a variety of perspectives. As such, it is a significant contribution to the public discussion of cognition and to the development of a professional knowledge base among the...