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Preparing for the Coming PR War
Mourners carry a coffin during the funeral of Wissam Tawil, a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces who according to Lebanese security sources was killed during an Israeli strike on south Lebanon, in Khirbet Selm, Lebanon, Jan. 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Aziz Taher
JNS.org – The pro-Israel community was completely and inexcusably unprepared for the public-relations nightmare following the events of Oct. 7. It took two months for major organizations to create the “10/7 Project” to push “for accurate and complete coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.” Does anyone know anything the project has done in the last 10 months? If it did anything at all, it was a total failure. War with Hezbollah and Iran was as predictable as a confrontation with Hamas, and yet the community seems equally inept, so let me lay out what we know will happen:
The media will:
Ignore Israeli casualties and focus on Arab victims.
Accept fabricated Arab statistics.
Interview unreliable Arab sources.
Air stories without researching their accuracy.
Focus on dramatic photos and stories without context.
Fail to explain Hezbollah dictates what can be reported.
Israel’s accidental bombing of civilians in the Arab town of Kfar Kana in the Galilee shifted opinion against Israel in the last war with Hezbollah. This was not a case of media bias—it reported what happened accurately—but an example of Israel being unable to offer explanations in a timely and persuasive way to mitigate the impact of the stories. This is also an example of a predictable event that PR war planners should have anticipated. On July 18, 2006, an Israeli pilot told a reporter: “One mistake can jeopardize the whole war, like Kfar Kana, in one of the last operations in Lebanon, where artillery bombarded a refugee camp, killing over 100 people, which resulted in international pressure that halted the operation.”
Israeli statesman Shimon Peres argued that good policy results in good PR, but sometimes, Israel’s policy options are limited or poor, as is the case of needing to destroy buildings above tunnels and attack schools, mosques, hospitals and U.N. facilities where terrorists are hiding. Hezbollah uses the same tactics as Hamas, and Israel will need to have explanations for its actions.
We know Israel will be accused of disproportionality, provoking a refugee and humanitarian crisis, denying health care, and committing “massacres” and “genocide.” Israelis will be charged with being aggressors and compared to Nazis. The usual epithets unrelated to the war will be tossed around, such as comparing Israel to South Africa and accusing it of “settler-colonialism.”
It’s always better to get in the first blow and try to set the media’s agenda. Israel’s enemies have mastered this tactic. It’s vital to offer context and facts in those instances immediately; errors should be identified, and corrections demanded. Unfortunately, it’s often too late to change perceptions once a narrative takes root, as in the report falsely blaming Israel for bombing a Gaza hospital early in the war.
The conflict must be explained in simple terms without trying to give a history lesson. Israel is fighting for its existence. The people of Israel want peace. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. It shares American values and interests. The war is not with the people but with the leaders whose radical Islamic views threaten America, as we’ve seen from Iranian plots to kill Americans and Iranian proxy attacks on U.S. forces. Publicize what the leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran say.
It is always better to strike first and try to set the media’s agenda. Israel’s enemies have mastered this tactic, frequently putting the pro-Israel community immediately on the defensive. If it is possible to find out about a forthcoming negative story; it is vital to immediately offer context and facts. Once a negative report appears, errors should be identified and corrections demanded.
Advocacy must start with the best information, and then the material should be packaged most engagingly to suit the medium or audience. For example, elites and academics may want to read articles with references; Internet surfers may want short tidbits or humorous videos; print reporters may want personal stories; and broadcast journalists will want powerful images. Divisions must be created to attend to the various media and target audiences (blogs, print/broadcast journalists, politicians, academics and students).
Focusing on peace is perhaps the most compelling argument in our arsenal. One reason Israel is losing the PR battle is that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to offer any hope or timeline for an end to the conflict.
It is also essential to empathize rather than demonize all Palestinians. Their suffering in Gaza is undeniable. Context does matter, and their anguish is a result of the actions of Hamas. The Lebanese are also victims of Hezbollah, and the inevitable death and destruction from a war should be anticipated. Little to nothing has been done to educate the public about how Hezbollah has insinuated itself into the civilian population and the tunnel network it has built. We know Hezbollah will control the narrative by limiting journalists’ access and freedom to report accurately.
On Oct. 7, Israel had emotion on its side but lost momentum as the months passed. It is vital to keep the stories of the hostages and victims at the forefront. There has been no honest discussion of the hardships of the citizens of the north, the victims of the Hezbollah strikes, or the damage to property, agriculture and the environment.
One of the most important but challenging tools to employ is rhetorical questions. Advocates are accused of “whataboutism,” but the critics must be challenged to answer what they would do if they were in Israelis’ shoes. What would the United States do if terror forced thousands of citizens to leave their homes or if rockets bombarded American cities? What would you do if your family was murdered in front of you, your daughters and wife raped and mutilated, and your house burned down with your grandparents inside?
Israel is always put on the defensive, but you are usually losing the argument if you’re explaining, justifying or rationalizing. Israel should eschew self-flagellation over every mistake. Sometimes, explaining why Israel has taken a particular action will be necessary. Still, advocates should not fall into the trap of the spouse explaining why they don’t beat their partner.
Israel is often put in an impossible position when the other side charges that an atrocity has occurred, without caring whether the allegation is true, and Israel must take time to investigate the incident. Meanwhile, the allegation is virally circulated, and it is too late to undo the damage when the Israeli analysis is complete.
The Israel Defense Forces has improved at providing daily briefings with documentation, photos, maps and videos to influence the narrative. It needs a disciplined campaign that deploys articulate, photogenic and informed spokespeople globally. Israel needs ambassadors who can fluently make Israel’s case. The pro-Israel community needs to marshal spokespeople who are academics and former officials from the government and military to counter the anti-Israel Arabists who are given prominence in the media.
The media’s bias will not change. We must operate with that as a given rather than expect to change it. Another reality is that many enemies among us undermine our case with their “As a Jew” claims. Divisions are inevitable even among friends, as we see in Israel and the American Jewish community. Like the media, we won’t change the culture of “two Jews, three opinions.”
That said, the criticism of Israel in the coming battles is predictable, and there is no excuse to be caught unprepared again.
The post Preparing for the Coming PR War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran

Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages

Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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