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Netanyahu also influencer-in-chief as master of YouTube, Instagram

No other politician in Israel, not even the young ones, masters YouTube, Instagram and other social networks as skillfully as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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A screen capture of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Instagram page on Dec. 15, 2020.

In September, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu uploaded a clip showing him “mobilizing” young Israelis to battle the coronavirus. The highlight of the clip featured Israel’s hottest teen music and television star, Noa Kirel, as Netanyahu’s special envoy to raise awareness of the importance of masks and social distancing. The goal was worthy. Kirel was recruited directly by Netanyahu’s people through her agent and family members. However, no one thought to get permission from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) although the 19-year-old is performing her mandatory military service and as such is banned from political activity of any kind. The fact that her commander, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, is a bitter rival of the prime minister obviously did not figure in the considerations of those involved in the production, either.

Naturally, the clip set off a storm, with the IDF announcing that Kirel’s appearance was a serious violation that would be examined and its lessons learned. Netanyahu and his people were not too bothered. The clip went as viral as the coronavirus, if not more so, with the nation’s most popular teen commodity lending the country’s septuagenarian leader a cool, youthful image at the cost of a low-budget video clip and a little public grumbling by his opponents. Even as the clip was sweeping social media and setting public agendas, a new video starring the prime minister popped up.

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