Newsletters
Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman known for his active presence on Arab media and social platforms, is reportedly preparing to retire after nearly two decades of service, according to Israel’s Maariv newspaper.
His departure comes amid renewed debate over his role in spreading controversial claims during Israel’s war on Gaza.
Maariv reported that Adraee is preparing to end his military service—a move that could signal a shift in Israel’s media strategy, in which Adraee has long been a prominent figure.
Adraee’s name was frequently mentioned in Arab, especially Palestinian, media, where he often issued evacuation warnings to residents and published summaries of military operations carried out by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.
According to Maariv, Adraee was part of the Israeli army’s media strategy after Oct. 7, 2023, which included issuing warnings to residents under the pretext of protecting them from strikes.
However, most attacks were reportedly carried out without prior warning, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza—which led some Arab news outlets to accuse him of spreading misleading information.
According to Arab reports, Adraee continued sharing false claims that justified the genocide that happened in the Gaza Strip.
A 2025 study published in The Arab Journal for Media and Communication Research analyzed Avichay Adraee’s Arabic-language Facebook posts as a case study of Israeli digital propaganda.
The researchers found that Adraee’s content relied heavily on emotional appeal, selective presentation of facts, and repetition to shape Arab public opinion.
His posts, they concluded, sought to humanize the Israeli army and portray it as a peace-seeking force while framing Arab resistance movements as extremist and irrational.
The study noted that such messaging aimed to “win hearts and minds” across the Arab world and normalize Israel’s image within Arabic-speaking societies.
Among them was Adraee’s claim that Al-Shifa Hospital, which was stormed and completely destroyed by Israeli forces, had tunnels beneath it housing a Hamas command center.
However, those allegations were refuted by The Washington Post, which published an investigation revealing that the evidence presented by Adraee and the Israeli army did not substantiate claims that Hamas used Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital as a command and control center.
The Washington Post investigation also clarified that none of the five buildings at Al-Shifa Hospital identified by the Israeli army were directly connected to the tunnel network.
It should be noted that this is not the first time Adraee has spread such claims. He previously shared a video accusing Gaza’s education system of promoting terrorism, violence, and extremism.
“Teachers in Gaza, who are Hamas activists, indoctrinate the next generation with Hamas ideology, making terrorism, violence, and extremism defining features of education under Hamas rule,” he said.
Despite Adraee’s stated opposition to raising children on violence — citing a video condemned by Lebanese authorities and prompting an apology from the channel — numerous studies and reports have exposed the indoctrination of Israeli children.
Research, including a study by Egyptian writer Ahmed El-Zlatt, has documented how Israeli children are taught racism and hatred toward Arabs and Muslims, according to Misbar.
Since the beginning of the war, Avichay Adraee has repeatedly spread accusations and false claims that Hamas had built infrastructure inside United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) facilities.
He also alleged that some UNRWA employees were “terrorist operatives” affiliated with Hamas.
Unlike the Al-Shifa Hospital claims, these allegations were not addressed by U.S. media investigations but were refuted by international organizations, including UNRWA itself.
In several reports, the agency categorically denied any involvement of its employees in the Oct. 7 attacks.
2 min read
