The world's premier search engine, Google, has published its rundown of the most searched terms for the year 2023 in 60 countries. In Israel, the term "Swords of Iron," the official name for the war raging against Hamas, won the lion's share of searches, along with more practical concerns such as "obtaining a weapons permit."
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Garnering a respectable 4th place in the category of most sought-after individuals, was none other than IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. Notably, one of the spots ahead of him was pop star Bruno Mars, who managed to visit Israel before the war and rock the house in Tel Aviv.
Hagari is ahead of Israeli Goalkeeper Daniel Peretz and news anchor Dany Cushmaro. The list also includes former Meretz lawmaker Yair Golan, who helped retrieve several of those wounded on October 7. In 10th place is Knesset member Simcha Rothman, who became one of Israel's most controversial figures prior to the war, due to his incessant push to weaken the Supreme Court.
The effects of the war also came across in searches for the late Shani Louk, the 22-year-old woman who was shot and killed on October 7, IDF lookout Noa Marciano, who was also killed by Hamas, and former football star Lior Asulin, who was murdered at the Re'im music festival.
In the list of websites and apps, AI can be felt everywhere, as ChatGPT swept first place, with the iPhone 15 capturing 3rd and Google chat bot Bard landing in 5th place. The famed AI image generator, Midjourney, took 9th place.
On the more cinematic front, the first two places predictably went to "Oppenheimer," which tells the life story of the father of the nuclear bomb, Jewish-scientist Robert Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy.
The second was "Barbie," the fantasy comedy film featuring Margot Robbie in the titular role and Ryan Gosling as Ken. Both movies proved to be cinema blockbusters.