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Or sign-in if you have an account.Photo by Uladzimir Zuyeu /Getty ImagesFor the last two to three years, the world has been told that support for Israel is collapsing across the West. Social media feeds appear flooded with hostility toward the Jewish state. Millions of social media posts, endless protests, viral videos, celebrities, influencers and political commentators repeating the same rhetoric day after day create the impression that Israel stands isolated while the world unites against it. But much of this perception is deeply misleading. It is not primarily the result of a sudden universal moral awakening. It is the outcome of demographics, digital algorithms, ideological mobilization and the politics of numbers.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorThere are roughly two billion Muslims in the world. One out of every four human beings on Earth. While the Muslim world is divided in many areas politically, ethnically and geographically, opposition toward Israel remains one of the strongest unifying themes across large parts of it. For many, opposition to Israel is not merely a political position. It is tied to identity, religion, culture and collective consciousness. Support for the Palestinian cause is often treated not as a policy preference but as a moral obligation deeply rooted within communal life. Even if only a relatively small percentage actively engage online every day, the numerical force generated by such a population is enormous.This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThe rise of social media has dramatically amplified this reality. In the past, public discourse was filtered through newspapers, television networks, editors and institutional gatekeepers. Today, the battlefield is controlled by algorithms that reward outrage, repetition, emotional intensity, tribal loyalty and volume. Platforms such as TikTok, X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube do not measure truth. They measure engagement. The more emotionally charged the content, the more aggressively it spreads. Under these conditions, a massive and highly motivated online population can dominate the digital landscape, regardless of whether it reflects the views of broader Western society.This distortion is intensified further by powerful personal incentives. Anti-Israel rhetoric has become commercially rewarding. It generates clicks, followers, likes, shares, influence, relevance and money. Many public figures understand this perfectly well. Whether out of conviction, opportunism, or both, an increasing number of influencers and commentators have learned that hostility toward Israel is profitable. Figures such as Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly, and many others operate within a digital economy where outrage is currency and anti-Israel content consistently delivers engagement.The power of demographics and algorithmic amplification can be observed at both the platform and individual level. Axios reported that, in the weeks following October 7, TikTok posts using #StandWithPalestine attracted nearly four times as many views globally as posts using #StandWithIsrael. A separate analysis by social-media analytics firm Humanz found a nearly fifteen-to-one imbalance between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel tagged content on Instagram and TikTok following October 7. One example among many is Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef, whose appearances on Piers Morgan’s program generated more than 40 million views collectively. During those interviews, Youssef compared Israel to a “narcissistic psychopath” that “makes you think it’s your fault.” By contrast, appearances by prominent pro-Israel figures such as Eylon Levy, Jonathan Conricus, and Douglas Murray generally attracted far smaller audiences. For media personalities operating in an attention-driven marketplace, the incentives are difficult to ignore.This algorithmic tide does not just wash over Western societies; it actively erodes their political center. For the millions of ordinary Westerners who have no personal stake in the Middle East, or who are already ideologically predisposed to view the world through a lens of oppressor versus oppressed, this relentless, volume-driven exposure acts as a powerful psychological solvent. When a person is constantly bombarded with a singular, high-emotion narrative, what began as passive indifference or mild curiosity gradually hardens into accepted fact, fundamentally tilting the baseline of mainstream Western public opinion.Against this stands a radically different demographic reality. Israel itself contains roughly ten million citizens, about twenty percent of whom are Arab Israelis. Many Israelis are not deeply engaged in English-speaking online discourse at all. Add to this approximately eight million Jews living in the diaspora, many of whom prioritize social stability, professional life, and personal security over entering hostile political battles online. A large percentage simply remains silent. The imbalance in numbers is therefore staggering before the debate even begins.The result is a giant digital echo chamber. Anti-Israel narratives receive overwhelming amplification, algorithms push them further because they generate engagement, and endless repetition creates the illusion of universal consensus. Over time, many people begin confusing visibility with truth and volume with morality. What appears to be an unstoppable global shift is often little more than the predictable outcome of demographic scale colliding with algorithmic amplification.None of this means the phenomenon is unimportant. Digital pressure shapes institutions, influences elections, intimidates politicians, and may absolutely affect future Western support for Israel, including in the United States. The political implications are serious and potentially historic. But understanding the real causes behind this phenomenon matters enormously. What we are witnessing is not simply humanity independently arriving at the same moral conclusion about Israel. Much of it is the direct mathematical consequence of population size, coordinated ideological energy, social media economics, and algorithm-driven amplification.In the age of social media, numbers create power, repetition creates legitimacy and algorithms manufacture reality. That is the real story behind much of what the world is now watching unfold.National PostDr. Dotan Rousso is a philosophy faculty member in Canada, a legal scholar, a writer on ethics, media, and international affairs, and the author of After October 7: Being Jewish and Israeli Under Judgment. Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.