This war is a game-changer for Israel’s image. It’s time to change the traditional Hasbara mindset. There’s no need to “explain” the situation or advocate for Israel’s policies against Hamas.
The world is overwhelmingly with us right now (mainly in Western countries, even including those that are usually critical of us). This is almost unprecedented. In fact, for many decades, the global consensus has been that Israel is the aggressor, not the victim.
October 7, 2023 changed that. And we must know how to leverage this for the benefit of Israel’s image in the world.
Paraphrased from Jordana Landau’s Facebook post
To evoke empathy for the Israeli people in global public opinion. This is no less important than the statements of Biden or Macron, and it will serve us in the next operations.
Non-Jews in Western democracies (other messaging is needed for Jewish audiences).
Without revealing too much. Share images of the hostages, with the permission of their family. With a personal anecdote from your acquaintance with them, if you have one, or what you know about them from Israeli media. Something personal, human, short. They look like the child of every parent around the world, there is no parent in the world who will not feel empathy when they see the pain that the parents and families here are experiencing. It’s terrible, but this is our story right now and it’s our job to tell it.
In humane moments, like the soldier who blessed his newborn baby in an impromptu virtual Brit, or parents talking to their fighter soldiers, sending them love.
The people standing in line to donate blood, aid packages being packed for soldiers, friends who take care of each other, food being sent to a Shiva, families from the South being hosted, etc.
Because it serves their purpose – to damage our psychological resilience as a nation that has to face tremendous heartache right now with a lot of fear, terror and concern for our loved ones. Seeing these videos can break anyone. In addition, the world is already shaken. We don’t need to shock them further, we need to shift to a mindset of creating empathy (more on that later).
The issue here is not the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a whole. It is very difficult for us to win there. October 7 is about war crimes committed by Hamas, an organization that people abroad for some reason do not perceive as terrorists, no matter how much we try to say that they are. Now there is proof. It’s our 9/11, and that’s a relatable analogy for most Westerners.
who seek to draw the discourse into a discussion about the Israel-Palestinian conflict as a whole Instead, focus on the hostages, the elderly and children, the pain and suffering endured here.