Digital Warrior: Inside Israel’s Battle for the Narrative After October 7

by Rachel Lester

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

310 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 17, 2026

Reviews

[Joe]

A true process story and first person history we all need

Rachel takes us inside the IDF International Spokesperson department and lets us read all about the public affairs work done to defend Israel's reputation. Rachel is also the angel behind "Superman has got nothing on Israel" and other such video efforts.
Rachel also has constructive criticism for Israel's efforts - such as not holding sufficiently accountable IDF soldiers who mistreated Gazans and not showing more of the horror of October 7. So this isn't just a 'there I was, telling Israel's story on social media'.
This is also a lived experience history many should read. Rachel had to live thru many aspects of the October 7 attacks from the Tentifida to rockets screaming in her general direction.
There you go... don't want to ruin the book sharing too much.

[Maddy Merritt]

This is truly unlike any book I’ve read before. It’s inspiring and thought provoking and just an incredible read from beginning to end. I’m sorry but a fly on the wall view inside an IDF unit?! Yeah, cmon nothing like this even exists.

Rachel, I’m so incredibly proud of you for not only this book but all the work you write about throughout this book. Without your efforts and your passion, I know the spokesperson unit just wouldn’t be the same. Thank you for being you and being an unstoppable force online and offline.

[Steven Bier]

Buy This Books

Rachel fights the antisemites, Hamas and all those anti-zionists that are currently poisoning public opinion about Israel and the Jewish people
Her memoir is a first hand account of Israel’s digital fight after Oct 7
She lived the frontline digital fight taking on the terrorists from Gaza and simultaneously the oppressive Israeli bureaucracy

[Wendy Kalman]

I cannot recommend this book any higher. It is a must read for understand how the international social media unit of the IDF works (and doesn't).

The author writes very well and also i cludes QR codes to the videos she describes.

She ends with recommendations on what the unit could do better; I hope the IDF takes her words to heart.