By Independent News Roundup
Israel’s Knesset has approved an enormous public-relations campaign worth approximately $729 million, which is nearly five times what the country allocated for public diplomacy last year.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced the initiative as a major component of national security, saying the money would be used “for the battle for public awareness and the promotion of Israel’s image worldwide.”
Will it help? No matter what Israel does, the world refuses to forget the total destruction of Gaza because most of us are still human.
Last week, Israel held a summit for American Christian pastors, training them to be “Ambassadors for Israel.” The backlash has been fierce from Christians who believe the Church should not pledge loyalty to any worldly government. There are now calls for a list of the participating pastors, which X users say they are compiling.
Meanwhile, Newsmax is running daily “Israel Updates,” highlighting “Israeli accomplishments.” Notice the comments are turned off?
In September, DropSite reported on a publicity report that was commissioned by Israel. Israel was studying tactics to rehabilitate its image and the report concluded that there was not much Israel could do to recover its image. The only possible way to help Israel's reputation was, according to the report, to distract the public with Islamophobia (or "foment fear of 'Radical Islam' and 'Jihadism.")
So is this massive new budget meant to fund exactly that strategy? If so, be prepared for a barrage of anti-Islam rhetoric to accompany the pro-Israel messaging.
Will it work?
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