Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel needs to invest heavily in “influence operations” in traditional and social media to counteract economic isolation arising from negative publicity abroad, Reuters reports.

Speaking at a Finance Ministry conference, Netanyahu said foreign investment into Israel had held up in the wake of a 12-day conflict against Iran in June, which he said removed an immediate threat of a nuclear-armed foe.

But in a rare acknowledgement of the isolation arising from international criticism of Israel’s fighting in Gaza, he said Israel faced an economic threat of sanctions and other measures.

He blamed isolation on minorities in Europe pushing “anti-Zionist and extreme Islamist ideology”, and on countries such as Qatar investing in shaping global discourse through social media.

“This leads to sanctions against Israel and alters Israel’s international standing … and this leads to a kind of isolation for Israel,” Netanyahu said. “We can break out of this isolation, but we must invest heavily in countermeasures, particularly in media and social media influence operations.”

Netanyahu said Israel should reduce the dependence of its industries on trade with other countries.

“We might find ourselves blocked not only in R&D but also in actual industrial production. We must start developing our capabilities to rely more on ourselves,” he said, adding that this should also include arms and other defence products.