Israel Matzav

Israel's hasbara two weeks before the 'Palestinian' UDI

Writing a blog is an up and down world. Some days, there are so many stories that I can't choose between them. Other days, I have to take other people's comments and just agree with them if I want to post. Today - so far - has been the second kind of day with the exception of the story about the Israeli passengers being harassed in Istanbul.

But it ought not to be that way. The Government of Israel knows who I am and they know where to find me. Over the last two years, I've been to several government ministries for briefings, and have had almost instant access to the IDF. I've been invited to far more conferences than I have been able to attend, and have been inundated with talking points from people who may - or may not - have been getting them from an official capacity.

It's two weeks to the opening of the UN General Assembly. Two weeks from tomorrow the General Assembly opens and two weeks from Wednesday is the expected vote on UDI (the 'Palestinians' unilateral declaration of independence). The Durban III conference and its counter-conference take place two weeks from Thursday.

You would think that my mailbox would be overflowing with talking points from the Government of Israel. They know where to find me, right?

Sadly, it's not. In fact, I don't think I've had a single email from anyone at the Foreign Ministry or the Prime Minister's office in the last few days. Where are they? Are they still on summer vacation? I didn't have a summer vacation. Why do they? Good questions.

As owner of one of the 25 largest U.S. PR firms, I speak regularly with my colleagues about Israel – and their reactions often terrify me. I read of colleagues in Europe, from U.S. PR giant Burson–Marsteller, stating in reaction to Israel’s request for a meeting, “We will not deliver tender to such a project… we are running a commercial venture. If we accept this project, this will create a great amount of negative reactions…Israel is a particularly controversial project.”

Another U.S. agency, French-West-Vaughn, responded to recent media reports about Gaddafi issuing a request for a PR firm, stating, “We received that same Gaddafi inquiry, as well as ones from Israel and Afghanistan, and it wasn’t a difficult decision to pass on any of them. We won’t work for any government whose interests are contrary to those of the United States, because all of my people live and work in this country and believe in its principles.” (Translation: Israel is the same as enemy states and against American interests.) If that’s the reaction amongst those of us influencing the media, and with one of the most anti-Israel administrations ever in the White House, Israel’s PR machine should be rocking.

The CEO of one of the largest PR agencies in the world vacationed in Israel this summer. Upon his return, he called me, aghast. He’s a Jew who wants to assist Israel and had appointments [at their request] with a number of politicians. Across the board, each of the politicians showed up late, repeatedly interrupted him and informed this PR expert, how misinformed he was. I am sure that he was reporting accurately when he told me that in the Far East, Latin American, and elsewhere, where he charges for his expertise, no one would ever come close to treating him in that manner. Needless to say, his strong desire to help Israel has begun to weaken.

Israeli Government Ministers, major American Jewish organizations, and notable Jewish pro-Israel philanthropists all pay lip service to publicity problems, yet do little more than talk. They hold meetings, where people converse, but put forth very little money and almost no follow-up action. So, very quickly, the vast “PR committee” goes away. In the U.S., there are crisis PR firms and CEOs of PR agencies that are pro-Israel who would welcome volunteer work for the government. Yet, shamefully the Israeli Government does not have a U.S. PR agency.

With all the talk about Jewish control of the media, reality is that most of the media is far from supportive of Israel, and it will only get worse — the Arabs are smart, organized and ready to pay large sums to communications professionals.

As the Algemeiner recently reported, the PLO Mission in the U.S., in advance of the upcoming September vote, has hired Bell Pottinger, a leading International PR agency to provide “advice on strategic communications, public relations, media relations and congressional affairs.”

Fenton Communications, an American public relations firm works for “Al Fakhoora,” a Qatar-based pro-Palestinian initiative that has “launched an advocacy campaign to file legal charges against Israel and change the public perception in the West about its actions.” They have been paid at least $240,000 for communications services.

Meanwhile, Israel plays internal politics and continues to be ineffective in world media, with the Netanyahu-Lieberman-Barak government scoring few points. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is perceived as uninterested in making peace, FM Avigdor Lieberman an extremist and Barak is a non-issue in the U.S.

My younger kids watched Sallah Shabbati several times this summer. In the movie, there is a scene where wealthy donors are taken on a tour of their 'forest' by the JNF. There is only one forest, but there are dozens of donors and each time the sign is changed. The scene is quite funny. I managed to find the scene on YouTube - I apologize in advance because the subtitles are French and not English. But you'll get the idea.

Let's go to the videotape.



At the time, there was no choice but to do it that way. The money was coming in too fast to plant so many trees at once. Today there is a choice. Unfortunately, our public relations have not improved. We're still not tailoring our message.

Labels: hasbara, Salah Shabbati, Unilateral declaration of independence (UDI)

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:05 PM