By: Fern Sidman

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to deliver his highly anticipated speech at the United Nations General Assembly, his office and communications team have unveiled an aggressive public diplomacy initiative in New York City aimed at ensuring the memory of Hamas’s atrocities on October 7 remains front and center in the minds of world leaders and the public.

According to a report on Thursday at Israel National News (INN), dozens of massive billboards and digital trucks have been strategically placed around the United Nations headquarters and Times Square. The bold, unmissable signs carry a stark and simple message in English: “REMEMBER OCTOBER 7.” The campaign is designed to cut through the cacophony of international diplomacy and redirect attention to the crimes committed by Hamas terrorists nearly a year ago—an event that still haunts Israel and continues to shape the trajectory of the conflict in Gaza.

The visual displays are not mere symbolic gestures. Each billboard and truck carries a QR code, which when scanned outside of Israel, leads to a dedicated website presenting detailed documentation of the atrocities of October 7. The site includes graphic evidence, survivor testimony, and accounts of the brutality that marked Hamas’s assault on southern Israel, including massacres of families, kidnappings, and the ongoing captivity of 48 hostages still held in Gaza.

As the INN report emphasized, the goal of the campaign is not only to preserve the memory of that day but to counter what Israeli officials view as an alarming global tendency to downplay, distort, or even erase Hamas’s culpability in the ongoing war.

The timing of the campaign is no coincidence. Netanyahu’s speech at the UN is expected to address mounting international pressure on Israel in the wake of multiple Western governments recognizing a Palestinian state, as well as calls for an end to the war in Gaza without Hamas’s full disarmament. Against this backdrop, the INN report noted that the Prime Minister’s team is determined to frame the debate not in terms of abstract political calculations, but in terms of raw moral clarity: the horror of October 7 and the obligation to confront Hamas until the threat is eliminated.

By placing the campaign directly around the UN headquarters, Netanyahu’s team is sending a pointed message to the very leaders and delegations who will gather to debate Israel’s future in the coming days. Times Square, one of the most iconic public spaces in the world, was also chosen for its unparalleled visibility and its ability to broadcast Israel’s message not only to UN diplomats but to millions of passersby and international media.

The campaign’s stark slogan—“REMEMBER OCTOBER 7”—serves as both a plea and a warning. As INN has reported, Israeli officials remain deeply concerned that international attention has shifted disproportionately toward humanitarian suffering in Gaza, often without reference to the events that triggered the conflict.

By invoking October 7, Netanyahu’s team is seeking to re-anchor the conversation in what they consider the indisputable moral foundation of Israel’s war: that Hamas carried out one of the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust, and that it continues to hold dozens of innocent civilians hostage.

The campaign also calls attention to Israel’s frustration with selective amnesia on the part of some governments. Officials involved in the initiative told INN that too many leaders are now speaking as though Hamas’s crimes are an unfortunate backdrop rather than the central reason for Israel’s military operations.

Beyond the physical billboards, the inclusion of the QR code reflects a sophisticated attempt to extend the campaign into the digital sphere. As the INN report explained, scanning the code leads users to a multimedia portal containing verified documentation of the atrocities, including photographs, videos, and detailed reports compiled by Israeli authorities.

The digital element also circumvents what Israeli officials see as biased or incomplete coverage by mainstream media outlets. By giving users direct access to primary evidence, the campaign seeks to bypass layers of interpretation and ensure the raw facts of October 7 remain accessible to anyone willing to engage with them.

Interestingly, the QR code does not function inside Israel, a deliberate choice to focus the campaign outward. As the INN report noted, Israelis hardly need reminding of what happened that day—the trauma remains fresh and omnipresent. The intended audience is the international community, particularly those who may be swayed by diplomatic campaigns to soften criticism of Hamas or to elevate calls for Palestinian recognition without addressing terrorism.

The unveiling of the “Remember October 7” campaign marks a significant escalation in Israel’s broader public diplomacy, or hasbara, efforts. According to the information provided in the INN report, Netanyahu’s spokesperson’s unit has been heavily reinforced for this visit, with a clear directive to counter narratives hostile to Israel across multiple fronts—on the streets, in the media, and in diplomatic halls.

Officials believe that in an era of instantaneous news cycles and viral misinformation, such campaigns are as critical to Israel’s security as tanks and jets. “If we lose the battle of perception, we risk losing the political room to maneuver,” one official told INN.

By saturating the visual landscape of New York with reminders of Hamas’s crimes, Israel is attempting to blunt the impact of the diplomatic offensive being waged by the Palestinians and their allies, who are expected to organize a walkout during Netanyahu’s UN address.

At its core, the campaign highlights the extent to which the current conflict is being fought not only on the ground in Gaza but also in the realm of memory and morality. As INN has reported, Israeli leaders believe that the legitimacy of their military campaign depends on the world’s willingness to remember October 7 not as a footnote but as the defining catalyst of the war.

For Israel, the continued captivity of 48 hostages remains the ultimate reminder of Hamas’s intransigence and cruelty. Officials fear that without constant reinforcement, the international community will grow increasingly detached from their plight, treating them as bargaining chips rather than as innocent lives hanging in the balance.

As Netanyahu prepares to mount the UN podium, the message flashing across Manhattan’s skyline is clear and uncompromising: “REMEMBER OCTOBER 7.” It is both a rallying cry and a warning, a reminder that behind every diplomatic debate lies the raw horror of a terrorist massacre.

For Israel, as conveyed in the INN report, the campaign is not merely about shaping international opinion but about asserting the moral clarity of its cause. In a world where political narratives shift rapidly and memory fades easily, Netanyahu’s delegation is determined to ensure that the atrocities of October 7 remain seared into global consciousness—and that the war against Hamas is understood not as a choice, but as a necessity.