Israel's public diplomacy efforts may once again appear to be nonexistent in recent days, as terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip launch over 1,500 rockets at Israel in recent days, killing seven and wounding dozens. According to Ian Alterman, foreign news editor at i24News, however, the problem doesn't necessarily lie with Israel's public diplomacy efforts.
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"Part of the problem stems from the fact that Israel cannot satisfy all of the audiences," Alterman told Israel Hayom. "It wants to relay to Hamas that it is determined and will act decisively and that the blow will be powerful, but faced with an international audience, such a message could really be fatal."
Israel's democratic character is yet another obstacle to Israel's public diplomacy efforts, he said.
"It's much easier for Hamas to control the messaging because it controls the international media's access on the ground. In many cases, it dictates comments from citizens and controls them," Alterman explained.
Noga Tarnopolsky of the Los Angeles Times noted that while Israeli public diplomacy "isn't a complete failure," it does have its flaws.
According to Tarnapolsky, "The prime minister has no official spokesman, and that doesn't contribute to Israeli public diplomacy around the world. The entire burden of public diplomacy falls on the IDF spokesperson and police spokespeople, and they can't execute public diplomacy of policies."
One recent example Tarnopolsky takes issue with is the appearance by Mark Regev, formerly Israel's ambassador to Britain, on US news programs last week.
"Sending a close associate of Netanyahu to [talk to] left-wing American television [outlets]? That's not media strategy. Israel is paying a heavy price" for the move, she said.
Nevertheless, there may still be cause for optimism, at least as far as Operation Guardian of the Walls is concerned. Foreign Ministry officials believe the rocket salvos on Israel have altered international media coverage of the conflict. Up until the first rockets were launched, Israel was at a disadvantage as videos of police storming Al-Aqsa Mosque were seen as religiously insensitive. Likewise, the National Information Directorate at the Prime Minister's Office, tasked with overseeing public diplomacy efforts in times of emergency, has not functioned since former head Yarden Vatika left the position.
Since Tuesday, however, a member of the diplomatic system said, "The trend has turned around. The attack on us is seen as an illegitimate move, and our messaging has been adapted to that. The rockets changed the image [presented] in the media."
Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi ordered the establishment of a coordination bureau tasked with coordinating information and reporting, among other things. Among those involved in the effort are representatives from the IDF Spokesperson's Unit and the PMO's foreign media department. According to the bureau, since Tuesday night, Israel has had a greater international media presence than the Palestinians, who are now seen as the violent and aggressive players in the conflict.
Among the hundreds of interviews given by Israeli representatives to media outlets around the world were several with Israel's Ambassador to London Tzipi Hotovely.
"Our goal is to provide diplomatic space to security activity. To that end, me and my team are giving interviews non-stop." Noting the situation "is complicated," she said that what matters is that "we are on the ground."
Despite the hostile atmosphere, world leaders offered support for Israel, Wednesday.
In Germany, activists with the Christian Democratic Union, headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, waved Israeli flags in Berlin. "We condemn the terrorism against Israel and are making sure people see that," the party said in a statement.
As usual, however, in the Arab world, the anti-Israel propaganda machine is in full effect and enlisting local media outlets to this end.
Turkish Islamist newspaper Yeni Akit published an editorial accusing the United States, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia of being accomplices to "Israeli crimes."
The London-based pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat took a more moderate tone in its coverage of the escalation, noting in its headline the UN warning against an all-out war.
Egypt's Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper focused its coverage on UN discussions on the escalation and Israeli strikes on Gaza.
The top story in Jordan's Al Ra'i newspaper was dedicated to the violence and quoted a Jordanian official calling "to stop the Israeli aggression in Jerusalem and Gaza."
In the Arab Gulf, media coverage in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which both recently normalized ties with Israel, was markedly different. Dubai's Gulf News focused on the Arab League's condemnation of Israel and didn't give the issue special attention. In Bahrain, it took hours before local media outlets reported on the escalation.
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