Israel's PR Crisis

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

"Six months after Israel launched a 22-day offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip that killed more than 1400 Palestinians, the country has faced one of the worst public relations crises," reports The Age. "In the last week alone, Israel has been forced to defend itself against harsh criticisms in reports published by the Red Cross, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's communications chief, Ron Dermer, wants to centralize "the Israeli Government's responses to issues raised by the foreign media into a kind of war room, and make better use of public opinion research." Dermer also plans to "start shaming those countries and organisations that hold Israel to a different standard. '[People] who get together to call for a boycott against Israel, are they also calling for a boycott against North Korea, the world's largest concentration camp? Against Iran, where they hang homosexuals?,'" he asked. To hold Israel to a different standard, Dermer claimed, is "anti-Semitic." Israeli public diplomacy expert Eytan Gilbao "says Israel will have to spend 10 times its current PR budget if it really wants to change international perceptions." The former director of the Israeli government's press office, Uri Dromi, counters, "Israel has a policy problem, not a PR problem. ... Israel should not be in the [occupied] West Bank in the first place."

Main Source: 
The Age (Australia), July 4, 2009
Topics: 
Public Diplomacy
Human Rights
War / Peace

Comments

Evin replied on

Israel could spend 1,000x it's current PR budget and it will not change world opinion. Israel is indeed held to a different standard than the rest of the world. Why? Because, dare I say it, many people hate Israel in general and Jews in particular. While Israel is being dragged across the coals for it's invasion of Gaza in defence of its own people, not a word is being said about the UN and the US's unnecessary invasion of Iraq and the killing of 1 million + Iraqis. China is killing its own people and the world is silent. North Korea is killing it's own and what is being done aside from ineffective political sanctions? Nothing. Ditto with Iran. The middle East in general treats its female polulaltion like animals and the world's response - silence. The world needs to examine its not too subtle motives when dealing with Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East. Further they should realize that Jews are a part of the human race not a people apart to be targeted whenever they have a dog that needs to be kicked.
Evin Daly is the editor of www.lookisrael.com

Anonymous replied on

Your article says nothing about how Arab countries and special interest groups use PR to advance their causes. In the late 1960s Yaser Arafat was one of the first to hire a PR firm to "sell" the Arab "Palestinians" to the world. I remember it clearly; I was a teenager at the time, and thought no one would be fooled by so obvious a tactic. I'm sad to say I was proven wrong; the Israelis are very late in trying to catch up in a game their enemies have played for decades.

The article also cites groups like Human Rights Watch. They have been proven wrong in their statements about the so-called slaughter in Ramallah, and have a clear, pro-Arab political agenda, taking donations from the Saudis and other special interest groups. Using a name like "Human Rights Watch" doesn't qualify them as being fair or netural.

I also note that the Red Cross admitted the (Arab/Muslim) Red Crescent as a full partner long before they agreed to admit the Magen David Adom (the Israeli emergency medical organization), which cares for both non-Jews and Jews in Israel. Their neutrality is also suspect.

arabmuslim replied on

There is no democracy in Israel as a state is illegitimate and illegal and not recognized
Evidence of this if anyone wanted to write a comment in the Israeli websites
Does not allow him or be there are many obstacles to prevent him from writing a comment The reasons for Arab-Israeli conflict is the occupation of Palestine in 1948.
Palestine Arab Islamic state like the rest of the Arab and Islamic states surrounding
Them. Means that there are Jews and Zionists in Palestine a big mistake, because this entity
Zionist is not consistent with the surrounding area (such as language, customs, traditions and religion)
The only solution to end the Arab-Israeli conflict is the expulsion of Jews from Palestine
All of Palestine. The Jewish people will not rest and will not feel comfortable and stability
But if it gets out of Palestine and the Middle East completely. If people continue to
Jews in Palestine and the Middle East, the death and destruction will continue.
Palestine Arab Islamic state and will remain