Where does influence live today if not online? In the very space where fake news spreads fastest, five influencers chose to fight back — not with talking points, but with platforms too big to ignore.
The way to persuasion, it turns out, can run through the stomach. With 2.5 million followers across Instagram and TikTok and a bestseller titled Jew-ish, Jake Cohen has become one of the biggest names in Jewish food.
He took the flavors of the old Jewish kitchen — babka, bagels and all the rest — and gave them a fresh, 21st-century update. In the process, he has drawn younger Jews, and plenty of others, back to the food of home, memory and belonging.
Adela Cojab did not set out to become one of the leading young faces in the fight against antisemitism in the United States, but once she decided she could not just stand by, she stepped onto the front lines.
The Mexico-born lawyer and activist, whose path was shaped in part by a Birthright trip to Israel, made history with a landmark complaint against NYU and has since become a sharp, unapologetic public voice on Jewish rights, identity and pride.
Emily Austin first broke through almost by accident during the coronavirus pandemic, when she began interviewing NBA players on Instagram.
Before long, she had become a sought-after host and reporter, with more than 2.6 million followers. She has since used that visibility to establish herself as one of the most prominent pro-Israel voices online, including a widely noticed Emmys appearance featuring a Star of David necklace and a hostages pin.
Born Nuseir Yassin, Nas Daily is probably the biggest internet star to come out of Israel. The Arab Muslim creator from Arraba in the Galilee built a global audience of tens of millions with polished, fast-moving videos, then turned that reach into a media empire of his own.
After Oct. 7, he said that where he once saw himself as a Palestinian Israeli, he now sees himself first and foremost as Israeli — a stance he has said cost him friends and a great deal of money, but one he has not backed away from.
And then there is humor. Zach Sage Fox is a comedian, actor and content creator, but since Oct. 7 he has also emerged as one of the most prominent pro-Israel voices online. Having built an audience of millions, he produces videos that are sharp, direct and unapologetic, sparking interest and debate far beyond the Jewish community.
Raised and educated at a Jewish school in Philadelphia, Sage Fox had already produced and hosted a Disney series by age 17, and later worked with Amazon and HBO.
Since the war began, he has stood out as one of the most visible activists in the fight against antisemitism. Through street interviews, improvised exchanges and pointed satire, he repeatedly exposes the gaps in knowledge, contradictions and false assumptions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.