He Should Only Know

The situation, actually, is worse.

Over lunch, my wife mentioned that she'd listened to an Israeli spokesman on Classic FM news. She was quite angry, and said she thought the Israelis deserved all their bad publicity if this was the best they could do. The spokesman spoke poor English and was, she said, very unsympathetic. Another own goal.

Those of us who work abroad to promote a favourable image of Israel are constantly being undermined by people like this, who should be nowhere near a camera or a microphone. It has become commonplace to speak about PR as another part of modern warfare, perhaps the crucial part. Stefanie Gutman's excellent bok, The Other War, spells out in some detail why the Israeli PR operation lags so far behind that of the Palestinians.

We have all known this for some time now. It became heightened during the 2006 war, and it will be heightened again whatever now happens in Gaza. Surely Israel has plenty of people like the now vanished Mark Regev, who speak perfect English and understand the sensitivities of European and American viewers, listeners, and readers. If not, what's to stop them offering jobs to English speakers abroad, American or British, who will be willing to spend a year or more in Israel doing this? I understand the IDF don't like PR, but it really isn't their call. What's the point of hasbara over here if it isn't working over there?

Can we do anything about this?

Denis MacEoin