|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-885028
Information Warfare Attacks What You Know; Cognitive Warfare Attacks Who You Are
(Jerusalem Post) Jeffrey Kahn - What Jewish communities and the State of Israel face today is not merely bad messaging or misunderstanding. It is a sustained cognitive warfare campaign that deliberately blurs the line between Jewish identity, Zionism, and the State of Israel - placing Jews globally into a defensive posture for actions and policies over which they have no control. This distinction matters because public diplomacy and advocacy, and cognitive warfare, are not the same. No one suggests that Diaspora Jews are responsible for Israel's air defense, border security, or intelligence operations. But Diaspora Jews are increasingly expected to defend Israel's legitimacy, explain its wars, rebut its critics, and absorb backlash. Jewish identity itself has been cognitively reframed as a proxy political position. The burden shifts instantly to the individual to clarify, disclaim, or defend - often publicly, often under pressure, sometimes under threat. This is not a failure of public diplomacy: It is evidence of cognitive targeting. Traditional public diplomacy assumes that facts can correct falsehoods and that reputational defense is primarily a communications challenge. Information warfare attacks what you know; cognitive warfare attacks who you are. It is not about persuading the undecided. Identity overrides argument. Diaspora communities cannot counter a coordinated, transnational cognitive warfare campaign whose design, scale, and adversaries operate at the state and quasi-state level. Antisemitism today is not only hatred of Jews: It is a tool for destabilizing democratic societies, eroding confidence in information, and turning identity itself into suspicion. Antisemitism is the early warning system - but Jews and Israelis are not the only targets.