The initiative forms part of a broader public diplomacy campaign financed by tens of millions of dollars from the Israeli government to prime artificial intelligence models with official Israeli talking points.
The Hanover Institute and Generative Engine Optimization
Production peaked on August 12 and 13, yielding 73 reports amounting to nearly 354,000 words in two days. The website features headlines structured like user queries to AI assistants, including questions such as “Is Anti-Zionism Antisemitism?”, “Did Israel Expel Palestinians From Their Land?”, and “Is Israel Carrying Out a Genocide in Gaza?”
However, Nick Cleveland-Stout, a research associate at the Quincy Institute who has reported on the site, told the Guardian that the material consistently blunts criticism of Israel.
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Financing the Broader Public Diplomacy Campaign
The Hanover Institute project is tied to a wider operation financed by tens of millions of dollars from the Israeli government, routed through third parties including the European advertising group Havas Media.
These funding streams underwrite both AI optimization efforts and social media campaigns like “Freedom Not Terror,” whose 30-second video, posted as unlisted on YouTube in October 2025, has been viewed 28.1m times before publishing nothing further since December 2025.
Impact on Chatbot Responses and Public Opinion
Tests conducted by the Guardian demonstrate that scrutiny of the Hanover Institute’s output had already made a mark on chatbot content.
Despite these technological interventions, Israeli officials have expressed frustration over public diplomacy outcomes amid plunging international approval ratings. US public opinion polling reveals the source of these frustrations, with Gallup, Pew, and AP-NORC surveys indicating declining sympathy and increasing unfavorable views of Israel among Americans, particularly the young. Cleveland-Stout doubted that any public diplomacy could overcome the opposition to Israeli policy, stating that officials “view what is a political problem as a marketing one.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Hanover Institute for Public Policy?
The Hanover Institute is a pro-Israel messaging website that published over 500,000 words of quasi-academic reports designed to influence AI chatbot citations.
How do generative AI optimization platforms work in political campaigns?
Platforms like Res use specialized file structures and content engineering to ensure large language models read, evaluate, and cite specific web properties when generating answers for users, thereby shaping the narratives delivered by tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini.
How much has been spent on Israel’s overseas public diplomacy efforts?
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