The FIDF PR Machine Is Out of Ammo

No Amount of Messaging Can Cover Up This Failure

Avi Kaner, national board member of Friends of the IDF, recently published a polished list of programs the organization supports—PTSD treatment, bereavement camps, food vouchers.

No one is objecting to FIDF doing what it says it does (aside from spending money on truly unnecessary items). The scandal is that its leaders repeatedly told the public they were doing things they weren’t.

This isn’t about whether FIDF should be supplying helmets or tactical gear. It’s about trust. It’s about integrity. It’s about the public being told that the IDF’s greatest needs were being taken care of when they weren’t.

National Director Nadav Padan went so far as to claim that “spiritual support” was more important than “any helmet, any drone, or whatever.” This wasn’t just tone-deaf. It was false reassurance designed to deflect from obvious failures.

Then came Lara Krinsky, who declared:

“We have fulfilled every need the IDF has asked of us… Every combat soldier headed into Gaza is wearing thermals you provided… Their health is only upheld by your gifts.”

That statement wasn’t just misleading. It was categorically untrue. Real gaps remained. Soldiers lacked basic equipment. The IDF had not, in fact, had all its needs fulfilled. Yet donors were told otherwise. They were assured that their money had solved the problem—when the problem still existed.

And don’t just take it from me. Take it from inside the organization itself.

Sloane Citron, a board member of 20 years, resigned in protest:

“The FIDF has been a poorly run, disingenuous organization for some time now… I personally have stopped all donations”.

Marilyn Sarig, another board member, echoed the sentiment:

“I am disheartened and disgusted by the FIDF leadership… I too am resigning”.

And while FIDF was insisting that every need was met, it was wasting donor funds on non-essential items—massive quantities of t-shirts, promotional gear, and tens of thousands of pairs of women’s underwear—all under the banner of “emergency support.”

The outrage is not that FIDF funds scholarships or wellness initiatives. The outrage is that they deliberately misled people into believing they were addressing the IDF’s most urgent operational needs—while publicly dismissing or denying that those needs even existed.

This isn’t a PR crisis. It’s a credibility crisis. And the damage won’t be undone by Instagram stories, X posts, or carefully crafted donor emails.

Trust can only be restored through truth. And that starts with admitting the lie.