Digital Warrior

On the morning of October 7, 2023, Rachel Lester woke up in Tel Aviv to the sound of sirens and explosions. Instead of fleeing, the Los Angeles-born video editor put on an olive-green uniform and reported for duty at the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. Her weapon was not an M16, but an iMac; her battlefield was not the Gaza Strip, but the volatile, contentious arena of international social media. Digital Warrior pulls back the curtain on the grueling PR battle waged alongside the kinetic war against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. From the high-stakes countdown to expose the Al-Ahli Hospital hoax to the harrowing psychological toll of archiving raw terrorist footage, this gripping insider memoir reveals how a democracy defends itself when the truth is the first casualty of war. “A compelling, honest behind-the-scenes look into the Spokesperson’s Unit’s information war. If you want to understand what it actually feels like to fight the tidal wave of lies against Israel and why it matters, read this book.” —Lt. Col. (Res) Jonathan Conricus, Former IDF International Spokesman & Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies "A necessary, eye-opening look at how easily the public is manipulated by weaponized disinformation." —Emily Schrader, journalist, author, & founder of the Iran Israel Alliance