Israel’s youngest spokesperson gives British schoolkids lessons in PR

Avital Zalmanovitch-Carasso remembers exactly where the family was when her son Ben, nine, said that he wanted to chronicle how life was for Israeli children since October 7.

“Ben had been in a chess lesson when the sirens went off and we went into our safe room with the teacher. That’s when he said he wanted to make a video.”

Since then, Ben, who is from Tel Aviv, has become something of a social media sensation, attracting viewers from Israel and abroad to his Instagram and YouTube channels, where he explains what life is like for children like him in his newfound role of “Spokeskid for Israel”.

His videos were spotted by Israel’s best-known spokesperson, Eylon Levy, and Ben is now Levy’s youngest recruit at his initiative, the Israeli Citizen Spokespersons' Office.

During a brief break from touring Jewish schools in the UK, where Ben has been sharing his experiences and giving pupils tips on how they can also do hasbara (loosely translated as “PR for Israel,”), he tells the JC that he was inspired by his mother, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, who travels around Europe lecturing on the Holocaust, often with Ben in tow.

“My mum always finishes her lectures with ‘Never Again’, but when October 7 started, it happened again.”

Ben started to explain to his mother’s students how it felt to be a child in Israel “and we saw that people were listening and asking me questions. We thought it would be a nice thing if I spoke, but I don’t think we thought that I would end up being the spokeskid of Israel,” he says.

Seeing that Israel was struggling to win the PR battle on the international stage, he felt compelled to tell Israel’s side of the story –but through a child’s eyes. “I understand that there are a lot of people against Israel for no reason apart from [watching] fake news, while Hamas is kidnapping hostages, babies, children, women and men. The world is saying: ‘Look, look [at the Palestinians].’ But what about us? I can’t even put it into words how frustrating it is.”

Chatting over brunch in Golders Green, north-west London, where, earlier that morning, Ben had spoken at a hostage rally, it is clear why Ben is so well-placed for his newfound PR role. With the maturity of someone way beyond nine-years-old but with a childlike charm and curiosity, he explains how day-to-day life is for children like him. “Children in Israel have to grow up very fast. If you are playing in the park or going to school and there is an alarm, what should you do? Stop everything and go to a shelter or a safe room. Is this a reality for kids?”

Three of his closest friends have been deeply impacted by October 7 in different ways.

His best friend Yarin’s father, Hanan Yablonka, 41, was murdered after fleeing the Nova music festival. His body was retrieved from Jabaliya in northern Gaza in May. “Imagine your best friend form kindergarten losing a father,” says Ben.

“My other friend Micah, her cousin is [hostage] Romi Gonen and Micah told me that she is afraid that Hamas will kidnap her too, and Micah lives in Tel Aviv, not even close to Gaza. Do you understand that is not a world kids are supposed to live in?”

Another friend Yahav had to leave his home in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona when Hezbollah started to launch rockets. “Sadly, this is the reality for kids in the north and the south. They have to get out of their homes and go to a safe place, only because Hamas and Hezbollah decide to throw rockets at Israel. Is this fair?”

Speaking to the JC on International Children’s Day, Ben says he feels compelled to also be a voice for the children still held in captivity. Kfir Bibas was nine months old when he was kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz with his brother Ariel, who was four. “What have they done wrong? Kfir and Ariel Bibas are children, and as the spokeskid of Israel and as a child who wants world peace, I feel like I have a mission to free them.”

With the trauma from October 7, over 100 people still held hostage, the threat of rockets and missiles and the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, how do children like Ben cope? “I think that for kids whose family members are caught up in it, it’s very different for them, but sadly, [children like me] learn to live with it as we’re over a year into this war. We can’t be sad all day. We have to speak out and live our own lives because otherwise, it will look like we’re not strong, and we are strong.”

One day, Ben says that he hopes he will be able to reach out to Palestinian children, but ever the pragmatist, he says: “I would like to have peace and meet them, but first, their leaders need to stop trying to destroy my country.”

In the meantime, Ben will continue to give a voice to Israel’s children in the hope that people around the world will start to listen. “Sometimes, people say: ‘You’re just a kid, so why should we listen to you? We know better than you.’ But kids tell the truth, so if they’re talking about something that’s happening, you can’t say no to that.”

Instagram: @bencarasso

YouTube: @BenCarasso