In a candid one-on-one conversation at The Jerusalem Post Annual New York Conference, Nas Daily founder Nuseir Yassin, an Arab Israeli social media influencer with over 70 million followers, shared insights on identity, coexistence, and the power of artificial intelligence to reshape public perception and combat antisemitism.
Yassin, who was born in Israel to a Muslim family and now lives in New York, reflected on his upbringing and his path toward becoming a global media personality. “I’m one of two million non-Jewish people in Israel,” he said. “I lived there for 20 years before heading to the US for college. I have no other country. Introducing Israel to the world has become the job I was born for.”
Last week, Yassin became the youngest person to ever receive an honorary doctorate from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, a milestone he called a testament to the power of integration. “The youngest honorary doctor in Israel is an Arab Israeli. That’s what happens if we try to live together,” he said.
Calls to integrate communities
Yassin emphasized the need for deeper Jewish-Arab integration within Israel, noting that he grew up in an entirely Arab school with no Jewish classmates. “It makes no sense that only part of the population goes to the army,” he added. “We should all participate in the country we’re born in.”
He also commented on regional dynamics, acknowledging a lack of reciprocity from many neighboring Arab states. “There are not a whole lot of people in Egypt or Libya saying, ‘I want to do business with Israel,’” he said.
However, he noted that there are encouraging signs from the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and even Saudi Arabia.
“Give me your cybersecurity start-up, I need it,” he said, echoing sentiments from business leaders in the Gulf.
Asked whether artificial intelligence could help combat antisemitism, Yassin turned his focus to Arabic-language media, singling out Al Jazeera as a key contributor to antisemitic rhetoric. “Now, with AI, you can create unlimited videos in Arabic – AI presenters, AI scripts. Someone needs to do this. That’s the opportunity.”
As the conversation drew to a close, the idea of launching a nonprofit AI-powered media initiative to promote peace was floated. “There’s no money in media,” Yassin joked. “But you’ll bring global peace. Isn’t that better?” the interviewer replied.