The surprising country whose economy survived the war with Iran with distinction
World press headlines: In the USA, billions of shekels in Israeli public diplomacy are encountering a young generation that is not being convinced; Washington's economic pressure on Iran is landing directly on the shoulders of citizens suffering from a price surge; and in Egypt, against all gloomy forecasts, the local economy is managing to surprise analysts. Globes presents a daily short review of interesting news from the world media about Israel.
About the world press headlines
Against the backdrop of the constantly developing security situation, the lens of the world media reveals unique perspectives on what is happening in the country. From analyses by international experts, interpretations from a different angle, and also small stories from Israel that disappear from view - every day we present you a short daily review of what is written in the world media about Israel, in order to try and decipher how things from here look overseas.
The articles we present in the section are taken from major newspapers in the world, and do not necessarily reflect the worldview of Globes.
1. Why is Israel failing to change the narrative towards it?
"Money can influence a narrative, but it cannot easily fix the political conditions that make it unconvincing" - so says an analysis published on the news site Eurasia Review about the growing gap between Israel's aggressive public diplomacy campaign in the USA and the way Americans actually perceive what is happening in Gaza.
According to the article, Israel has dramatically expanded its investment in what it calls "hasbara" (public diplomacy): "In the Knesset, about 1.2 billion shekels were approved in July 2026 for media and public diplomacy activity, and in a separate budget agreement from December 2025, 2.35 billion shekels were mentioned for public diplomacy campaigns. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs received 545 million shekels as early as March 2025 for international campaigns and social media campaigns".
The article also reveals that Israel worked with American public relations and digital firms, including Clock Tower X, as part of a campaign that included the use of artificial intelligence and the distribution of online content, as emerges from documents filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act in the USA.
However, this financial effort, it is claimed in the article, is failing to stop the erosion in American public opinion. "A Pew Research Center survey from July 2026 found that only 32% of Americans view the Israeli government favorably, compared to 62% who view it negatively," the article states. "The gap between generations is particularly striking: among 18-29 year olds, only 32% viewed Israelis favorably, compared to 58% who viewed Palestinians that way - and among young Democrats the gap reaches 26% versus 72%. In contrast, among Republicans and older voters, support remains relatively strong."
The article emphasizes that this is a structural change and not just an image problem: an ever-growing audience watches direct evidence from social networks and humanitarian documentation and finds it increasingly difficult to be convinced by a government public diplomacy campaign, even if it is well-funded. The strategic risk, it is claimed, is not the total loss of American support, but the erosion of the automatic sympathy that characterized the younger generation in the past - a change that could affect the Congress, academia, and mass media in the USA later on.
By Altaf Motti, from Eurasia Review.
2. American pressure shifts to the citizens of Iran
"Iranians may view the various moves that the USA is making as an attempt to make them suffer and revolt against the government," is how an article in the New York Times describes the dangerous gamble behind the renewed economic pressure that Washington is exerting on Tehran. According to the article, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Monday a new package of measures that will further strangle the Iranian economy, in what the American administration calls an "economic D-Day."
The article cites a report by the leading Iranian economic newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad, according to which the Iranian rial has lost 41% of its value since December - the period when the collapsing exchange rate sparked protests that developed into weeks of unrest across the country, and were eventually suppressed in a lethal crackdown. Since then, it was noted, inflation and unemployment have been skyrocketing, and prices of some medicines have risen by up to 500%. The Iranian Minister of Energy even admitted that oil exports, on which the economy is based, are approaching zero due to the American naval blockade.
However, the article emphasizes that senior Iranian officials are projecting confidence and warning against escalation. Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei promised that "not a drop of oil" will leave the Persian Gulf if regional countries join the American effort - a threat that illustrates how severe the economic crisis is.
The article also notes that the success of the American move depends mainly on the ability to convince Iran's main trading partners - Turkey, Iraq, Russia, and China - to join it, with China, the world's largest buyer of Iranian oil, considered the least likely to succumb to American pressure. Experts quoted in the article warn that it is precisely the harm to ordinary citizens - and not the regime itself - that could be the main result of the sanctions.
By Erica Solomon and Sanam Mahouzi, from the New York Times.
3. The lesson that Egypt's economy can teach the entire Middle East
"Resilience has narrowed the gaps," is how Morgan Stanley analysts described Egypt's economic performance since the US-Iran war broke out in February, in an article on the Egyptian news site Ahram Online. According to the article, the International Monetary Fund also noted in its review that the Egyptian economy managed to absorb the energy shocks and the regional geopolitical crisis without sliding into an internal crisis - an achievement that surprised some analysts who expected a more difficult scenario when the war began.
"The IMF estimates Egypt's current account deficit at 4.5% of GDP in the current fiscal year, and Morgan Stanley predicts that it will range between 13 and 17 billion dollars next year, depending on oil prices," it was written.
The article notes that Egypt's foreign currency reserves stood at the end of June at about 19% above the level that the IMF sees as the minimum required to ensure financial stability. However, not everything is rosy: the Fund's report, as brought in the article, "points to a gap between the pace of declared structural reforms and the actual implementation pace - as the state asset privatization program has so far yielded only about 520 million dollars."
A striking difference between the two reports arises around the inflation forecast: "While Morgan Stanley lowered its forecast for the peak of inflation in the third quarter to 15.2%, the IMF remained more cautious and predicted a rise to 16.7% in the second half of 2026." The Central Bank of Egypt, the article notes, left the interest rate unchanged at its last meeting - for the fourth time this year - with the deposit interest rate standing at 19% and the loan interest rate at 20%, this while inflation jumped to 14.9% in July.
By Abd al-Rahman Rashwan, from Ahram Online.
