Speaking at the Israel Hayom summit in Manhattan on Tuesday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned of the influence of social media in shaping young people’s perceptions on Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“There is a great deal of valid concern about how Israel is viewed, not just around the world, but from the United States, how Jewish Americans are viewed, and what is being seen as a significant increase in antisemitism in real life and online,” said Clinton. “It’s time now that the hostages are back and people can breathe again, that everyone needs to take stock of where we are, both in Israel and in this country, learn the lessons that perhaps can help us determine a more productive future.”

Clinton said she believes growing hostility toward Israel is a “generational” issue, rather than a “Republican versus Democrat” divide.

“A lot of the challenge is with younger people. More than 50% of young people in America get their news from social media,” said Clinton, who added that the problem lies in the information users are receiving “and the conclusions they are drawing from it.” 

Clinton recalled teaching at Columbia University, where she is a professor of practice at the School of International and Public Affairs, during and after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks and seeing this impact firsthand.

“We began to realize that our students — smart, well-educated young people from our own country, from around the world — where were they getting their information? They were getting their information from social media, particularly TikTok. That is where they were learning about what happened on Oct. 7,” said Clinton. “What they were being told on social media was not just one sided, it was pure propaganda.”

Clinton said it was often difficult to engage in “reasonable discussion” in such a climate because students lacked historical knowledge and “had very little context,” calling it “frankly shocking.” She also warned that in addition to social media, she saw immediate and planned efforts to distort the context of the Oct. 7 attacks.

“There was an organized effort that was prepared literally on Oct. 8 to begin to try to both provide mis- and disinformation about what had happened on Oct. 7, what the meaning was, what the history between the Israelis and the Palestinians [was],” said Clinton. 

A key way forward, according to Clinton, is finding an effective way to talk about Israel to the younger generation. She added that Israel has “the worst PR.”

“The story that needed to be told was not getting told as effectively as I thought it should. And I think that’s only worse now,” said Clinton. “We have to do a better job of talking through the importance of supporting Israel and Israel’s security in a way that crosses generations.”