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    OPINION                                                           NOVEMBER 07, 2025        |  The Indian Eye 10

                           The Invisible Battlefield:

              Information Operations in the

                           12-Day Israel–Iran War

                Israel and Iran treated the information domain as a battleground, where legitimacy and perception were as crucial as kinetic
            outcomes. Israel’s campaign focused on delegitimising the Iranian regime and reinforcing its own image as a stable and responsible
                   regional power. Iran’s efforts were aimed at sustaining cohesion, projecting strength, and countering Israeli narratives

            HARSH YADAV

               nformation operations involve a
               coordinated effort to shape how
            Idifferent audiences, including en-
            emy forces, domestic populations and
            the international community, think,
            feel  and  respond  during  conflict.
            These operations combine tools such
            as psychological influence, cyber ac-
            tivities, strategic communication and
            media management to gain an advan-
            tage in the information environment.
            Similarly, the U.S. Joint Doctrine (JP
            3-13) views IO as:
                    The integrated employment,
            during military operations, of infor-
            mation-related capabilities in con-
            cert with other lines of operation to
            influence, disrupt, corrupt, or usurp
            the decision making of adversaries
            and potential adversaries while pro-
            tecting our own.

                ISRAEL’S INFORMATION
                     OPERATIONS                On 13 June 2025, released a video message on his official X (formerly Twitter) account in which he was seen addressing the people of Iran (Agency)
               srael set as its central goals sev-  ing how IO became an instrument of  framing Israel as a protector of its   times coordinated by bot networks
               eral  operational  objectives  for   reassurance and influence.  own people, the Arab neighbours
            Iits information-operations cam-      Since the initial days of the  and European  countries, Netanya-  and diaspora influencers.
                                                                                                                      The Iranian Ministry of Intelli-
            paign against Iran, notably emphasis-  conflict,  Israel  has  launched  a  so-  hu sought to expand the cognitive   gence, in its report on 29 July 2025,
            ing regime change, promotion of lib-  phisticated campaign to spotlight  boundaries of the conflict, beyond a   described  this  conflict  as  a  conven-
            eration and freedom, and countering   internal disturbance within Iran. A  bilateral contest with Iran and also   tional military campaign, framing it
            Iranian narratives. These narratives   notable early example came from  portray Israel’s actions as legitimate   as a hybrid war that included ‘cogni-
            were promoted by the Ministry of   Israeli  Prime Minister  Benjamin  and necessary. This message aimed   tive warfare’ alongside ‘psychological
            Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Israel   Netanyahu, who on 13 June 2025,  to make a moral and strategic impact   operations’ and sabotage
            Defense  Forces  (IDF)  officials.  Si-  released a video message on his of-  on domestic and international audi-  Israel’s information machinery
            multaneously, it sought to limit panic   ficial  X  (formerly  Twitter)  account  ences. The appeal to the Iranian peo-  was aimed at shattering regime le-
            and reassure domestic audiences by   in which he was seen addressing the  ple shows that from the initial days   gitimacy among the Iranian people.
            reporting interception figures and op-  people of Iran. In his statement, he   of the conflict, the primary focus of   For instance, a public statement from
            erational successes. By highlighting   said, “Our fight is not with you; our  Israel was to delegitimise the Iranian   Israeli officials and military leaders,
            the effects of strikes and asserting air   fight is with the brutal dictator who  regime.             highlighting the messages of liber-
            superiority over Iran through official   oppressed you for 46 years. I believe   Pro-Israel Telegram channels   ation and freedom, was released by
            social-media posts and animated vi-  that the day of your liberation is  and  X  (formerly  Twitter)  accounts   the Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon
            sualisations, Israel demonstrated that   near.”                     broadcast footage of previous pro-  Saar on his X account, stating: “We
            IO are not merely a supportive tool,   This direct address by the Israe-  tests, presenting them as real-time   warned Iran time and again: stop tar-
            but an integral part of modern war-  li Prime Minister was not merely a  reactions to Israeli strikes. Hashtags   geting civilians! They continued, in-
            fare. This dual approach served both   political  statement;  it  reflected  the  such as #DownwithTheRegime and   cluding this morning. Our response:
            to maintain domestic morale and   strategic use of leadership commu-  #FreeTehran trended on both local
            shape external perceptions, highlight-  nication as an instrument of IO. By  and global platforms and were some-  Continued on next page... >>

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