U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken blamed social media in part for widespread pro-Palestinian protests against Israel's military actions in Gaza, saying it has a "very, very, very challenging effect on the narrative."
During a public discussion Friday with outgoing Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, Blinken said there were "two things" driving the global reaction to Israel's war against Hamas, starting with the "inescapable reality of people who have and continue to suffer grievously in Gaza."
But Blinken also that during his 30-plus years in Washington, D.C., the "single biggest change has been in the information environment."
"We are on an intravenous feed of information with new impulses, inputs, every millisecond, and, of course, the way this has played out on social media has dominated the narrative," he said. "You have a social media ecosystem environment in which context, history, facts get lost, and the emotion, the impact of images dominates, and we can't we can't discount that."
He added: "I think it also has a very, very, very challenging effect on on the narrative."
Blinken's comments came during the hour-long keynote conversation at the McCain Institute's annual Sedona Forum in Sedona, Arizona.
Midway through, Romney asked why the public relations efforts by Israel and the U.S. to promote "our point of view" have been "so awful" since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory attacks by Israel.
"Why has Hamas disappeared in terms of public perception? An offer is on the table to have a ceasefire and yet the world is screaming about Israel. It's like, why are they not screaming about Hamas? Accept the ceasefire and bring home the hostages. Instead, it's all the other way around," Romney said.
Romney, former CEO of the private equity firm Bain Capital, added: "Typically, the Israelis are good at PR."
Last week, Blinken visited the Middle East in an attempt to spur a deal on a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages. But Hamas said Sunday that the latest round of talks in Cairo had ended, and Israel on Monday ordered parts of the Gaza city of Rafah evacuated ahead of a possible ground invasion.
More than 1 million Palestinians are believed to be sheltering from the Gaza combat in Rafah.
