Young influencer counteracts anti-Israel hate with truth, positivity and humor.

Everyone needs a little light in their life, especially during the darker times. For some people that means spending time with family or friends. But for those who live far from their families or cannot juggle the time to spend with friends, there must be another outlet. One outlet in particular is a 22-year-old influencer born in Israel, raised in the Five Towns and currently living in South Florida. Yechiel Jacobs is a real estate investor and full-time social media activist.

When the massacre of October 7 occurred, Jacobs noticed the tremendous amounts of false information and negativity spreading about the State of Israel, and lack of positive, factual reels (Instagram videos). So he decided to create one clip combating the lies in a light-hearted, humorous way. Little did he know that this video would go viral, and he would soon be making many more.

Many people who see videos that upset them or make them uncomfortable often just try to put them out of their minds. But Jacobs saw the hate and misinformation spreading about his birthplace, his nation’s homeland, and decided to take action. Within these past six months, he has gained over 100,000 followers. Clearly people gravitate towards positivity, and in these trying times, many have been drawn to the content creator’s funny videos and charismatic personality.

Jacobs creates many reaction videos to pro-Palestinian accounts, correcting their false narrative while keeping the videos light-hearted. For example, an anti-Zionist woman released a video stating, “If you have Amy Schumer and Ben Shapiro on your side, then maybe you are on the wrong side.” So Jacobs made a video that started with: “If you have Hamas, ISIS, the Taliban, and Hezbollah on your side, maybe you’re on the wrong side of things, lady. Just a suggestion.” His video continued by explaining why people should not dismiss Israel right off the bat.

Other clips have focused more on concrete information to counter the idea of Israel as an apartheid state. Once again, Jacobs did a brilliant job, disproving the trope with his unique sense of humor.

When asked what his favorite part of influencing on social media is, Jacobs responded, “For sure making people laugh, and knowing that I am spreading facts and awareness. … I love that I can represent Israel and become a recognized name through supporting my country.”

However, with all the good there was also the bad. When Jacobs started gaining followers, he received thousands of hate messages, and his account got linked to a pro-Palestinian account, where people started threatening his family on Instagram. The young disrupter realized that his videos were working and his messages were spreading. Now, the overwhelming support and love Jacobs receives from family, friends and people around the world outweighs the hate.

Looking to the future, Jacobs wants to keep growing his social media base and continue supporting the State of Israel and the Jewish people. He will be performing his first stand-up comedy show in Los Angeles with Elan Gold and Brett Gelman soon. He is simply going to “ride the wave as much as [I] can.”

When asked for parting words to Jews on campus and around the world, Jacobs responded with two pieces of advice. The first is to “really be truly proud of who you are. Once you really understand that you are standing up for humanity, and doing the right thing, all else will fall into place.” The second is to “never silence yourself. You should always be true to yourself and never be afraid to tell the truth.”

You can find Yechiel Jacobs on Instagram @jacobsyechiel.

Julianne Katz is a former Jewish Link intern now studying at the University of Connecticut.