Israel Matzav

Olmert spokesman Mark Regev didn't like the name "Cast Lead"

Haaretz reports that Ehud Olmert spokesman Mark Regev, an immigrant from Australia, did not like the name "Operation Cast Lead," which was given to Israel's Gaza operation. The name came from a Zionist Chanuka song by Haim Nachman Bialik that describes how a father bought his son a cheap dreidel (see picture) made out of cast lead for Chanuka, the holiday during which the operation began. The operation's Hebrew name was oferet yetzuka, which translates into English as cast lead. (Yes, I know the dreidel in the picture is only good for use outside of Israel - it's 4:20 on Friday afternoon!).

"I didn't like the name," Mark Regev, the prime minister's spokesman for international media, told a crowd of some 150 listeners in English. "From a public relations point of view, it was a mistake."

Regev, who immigrated to Israel from Australia in 1982, said at the Modi'in municipality, "The Israel Defense Forces chooses its names by some computer or by some system which I don't understand. And the truth is that the Hebrew name Oferet Yetzuka [referring to Hanukkah dreidels] sounds lovely. It's the translation into English which sounds inappropriate."

Regev, 49, added that whenever he spoke to international media, he "never once said 'Cast Lead' because it has connotations in English that are problematic," opting instead for "the Gaza Operation" to describe the attack, which came in response to rocket fire from Gaza aimed at Israeli civilians.

"The English translation wasn't the most effective way to get our message out and it's an important point because if you can control the terminology of the debate, you can win the debate," he said.

The IDF Spokesperson reacted to Regev's statement by saying: "Mark Regev's opinion is legitimate."

Interestingly, The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg blogged a report with a similar complaint from Haaretz about a month ago.

Abroad, however, it was seen differently. In English, not to mention German, Cast Lead has a whole other association. Lead is cast into bullets, bombs and mortar shells. When the world reported on Cast Lead it sounded militaristic, brutal and aggressive; it was associated with death and destruction rather than spinning dreidels. Even before the first shot was fired or the first speech explaining Israel's case was made, the operation had already acquired an image of belligerence.

Maybe we should have called it Operation Maccabim. The Maccabis are the heroes of the Chanuka story for winning a great military victory against overwhelming odds. Of course, Israel's Left might not have liked that name. You see, the 'settlers' are often referred to as today's Maccabis.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:15 PM