TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) 鈥� For more than two years, hundreds of thousands of people in and have lived in dread of Avichay Adraee鈥檚 next social media post.
Israel鈥檚 Arabic-language military spokesman has been the animated face of its campaigns and the main source of warnings ahead of strikes . That has made him one of the most recognizable Israelis in the Arab world and a focus of fury as well as some fascination.
In social media videos shared to his 2.5 million followers across platforms, the colonel appears in military fatigues, gesticulating as he delivers official statements and mocks Israel鈥檚 enemies, often using satire or pop culture references, all in fluent Arabic.
In the wars sparked by Hamas鈥� Oct. 7, 2023, attack, his social media accounts have carried warnings for civilians to leave 鈥� 鈥� areas shaded in red on maps of Gaza and Lebanon. Millions have paid heed, with hundreds of thousands seeking refuge .
Adraee, who is retiring this year, takes pride in his work. Asked to respond to the fact that many associate him with death and displacement, he said he has helped Arabs to better understand Israel’s military operations.
鈥淏ecause of these evacuation orders, many millions were saved,鈥� he told The Associated Press. 鈥淭here’s no other army in the world that acts this way.鈥�
The 鈥榝ace of evil鈥� for many Palestinians and Lebanese
Israel鈥檚 offensive in Gaza killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and displaced most of the population of some 2 million, , before a took hold in October. Its latest war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon has killed some 3,500 people and .
Both campaigns have drawn allegations of war crimes and , which Israel has adamantly denied, often through spokespeople like Adraee.
The grim warnings also have made him something of a celebrity. In Lebanon, a look-alike delivery driver posts satirical videos and pranks unsuspecting residents, showing the fear Adraee inspires.
鈥淎vichay Adraee is the face of evil, to me and to the people of Gaza,鈥� said Ayman Ahmad, a resident of Khan Younis in southern Gaza who has been displaced twice during the war. Few people in Gaza had heard of Adraee before the war, he said, but now everyone closely monitors his social media accounts.
鈥淥nce we see a new post from him, we know that a disaster is about to happen,鈥� he said.
Adraee’s family has deep roots in the region
Adraee, 43, grew up in the mixed Jewish and Arab city of Haifa in northern Israel.
His father’s family is part of the Jewish community that lived in the area for generations before Israel’s establishment in 1948. His mother’s family came to Israel from Iraq, among hundreds of thousands of Jews from centuries-old communities across the Middle East who emigrated to Israel to escape violence and persecution.
Adraee said he loved watching Egyptian soap operas on Israeli television as a kid and that studying Arabic was 鈥渓ove at first sight.鈥� He picked up some Arabic at home before studying the language in school and during a stint in military intelligence.
鈥淢y ability to speak and absorb Arabic is connected to my roots,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y grandmother and father were very proud when they saw me on TV speaking in Arabic.鈥�
From talking head to social media influencer
Adraee became the military鈥檚 first Arabic-language spokesperson in 2005, doing interviews with TV outlets, including regular appearances on the increasingly influential Al Jazeera.
He said 2011 marked a turning point with the rise of social media, which was used to great effect during the that year.
鈥淧eople know me, we鈥檝e been through so many wars,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut the revolution of social networks in 2011 allowed us to lean on the persona of Avichay.鈥�
Adraee wants his videos to go viral, leaning on the casual nature of social media to get his message across.
The military’s claim to have found Hamas infrastructure under a luxury hotel in Gaza made little impact, but Adraee said his satirical video of a Hamas leader leaving a Trip Advisor review for the tunnels was widely shared. He has sent birthday messages to singers and holiday greetings to Arab influencers, even exchanging public messages with Lebanese journalists who work for Hezbollah-linked outlets.
鈥淲e want people to be exposed to the really important and serious messages, the information we鈥檙e trying to convince them of, but if you want them to remember you, you have to be more creative,鈥� he said, adding that social media allowed him to 鈥渢alk directly to the people, above the heads of the government.鈥�
A race to draw attention to war narratives
Fawaz Gerges, a professor of Middle East studies at the London School of Economics who was born in Lebanon, said Adraee’s posts are 鈥渄readed and feared because they really carry life and death implications for hundreds of thousands of people.鈥�
Still, 鈥測ou have some people basically who are fascinated by his personality because he鈥檚 now almost an official influencer for Israel,鈥� he said, adding that Israel鈥檚 military has spokespeople in several languages, but only Adraee is famous enough to be known by his first name.
Gerges said it’s part of a wider trend in which official spokespeople try to make their messages go viral.
The Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida was widely known for delivering fiery statements, sometimes cut with footage of attacks or , before he was . Hamas and Hezbollah have released videos showing their attacks, cut with music and graphics.
Supporters of Iran’s government have released with Lego characters mocking U.S. President Donald Trump. The White House has released its own videos celebrating strikes on Iran, .
Accusations of incitement after the killing of journalists
It’s not unusual for military spokespeople to have adversarial, if professional, relations with reporters. But Adraee has been accused of justifying the killing of some journalists.
The Committee to Protect Journalists says there is a 鈥渞epeated pattern鈥� in which Adraee 鈥減ublicly labels Palestinian and Lebanese journalists as militants or terrorists 鈥� often without presenting verifiable evidence 鈥� before or after they are killed in Israeli strikes.鈥�
After a strike in March , Adraee鈥檚 account published a photo of one of them, Ali Shoeib, in military fatigues. The image was later determined to be computer generated.
Adraee said it was a mistake not to label the photo as 鈥渋llustrative,鈥� but insisted Shoeib was a known Hezbollah operative who spied on Israeli positions while working as a reporter for a Hezbollah-linked outlet. Adraee presented no evidence he was involved in fighting. Israel says it does not target journalists.
At least 207 journalists have been killed in Gaza and 16 in Lebanon since 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Someone you can reach on Instagram
After 20 years in the role, Adraee is retiring and will be replaced by Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, the military鈥檚 highest-ranking Muslim woman.
Last month, Adraee received one of the strangest messages of his long career.
A teenager in a Beirut suburb reached out on Instagram and told Adraee that her school was hiding weapons. Israel regularly bombs buildings it says are used by militants, so the message prompted panic, vehement denials by school officials and a search by the Lebanese military, which turned up nothing.
It was later revealed the girl was playing a joke with a friend and likely wanted to avoid going to class.
Adraee chalked up the whole situation as a win.
鈥淭he fact that the (Israeli military) spokesperson is someone you can write to on Instagram, that鈥檚 the whole story,鈥� he said.
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Associated Press writer Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo contributed.
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