On Aug. 20, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a personal message for his almost 2 million Facebook followers. The post quickly went viral.

“I’d like to share with you,” began the prime minister, who also serves as communications minister, “what seems to be a new phenomenon among some groups in the media. They are censoring criticism of them in the responses that are posted to their sites.” Netanyahu explained that the editorial board of Channel 2’s Friday night show "Ulpan Shishi" had cut part of his response to a critical report about the alleged growing involvement of his son Yair and his wife Sara in managing affairs of the state.

After the last election in March 2015, Netanyahu adopted a new practice. He now speaks directly to the people, without any mediators and without journalists, but also without a party. In effect, he is the Likud, and the Likud is him.

But Netanyahu’s electoral victory was the product of much more than his own effective internet campaign. His achievement reflects a deep-seated change taking place in Israeli politics as a result of the social network revolution. It is a process that has kept many experts busy working to understand where it is all leading. Four of them spoke with Al-Monitor in an effort to answer that question. Karine Nahon is a researcher of the politics of information and social networks, Asher Idan is a philosopher and authority on social networks and futurism, Alex Rosenfarb is a manager of digital media and political campaigns, and Arad Akikous is a political strategist and researcher of social networks.