Israel Combats Propaganda with Propaganda

Re: Positive Views of Israel, Brought to You by Israelis (Feb. 18, 2010).

To the Editor:

In the February 18th article "Positive Views of Israel, Brought to You by Israelis," the author discusses the Israeli government’s attempt after an allegedly successful (but flawed, in that the killers were detected) assassination of a Hamas leader one month before to begin a reimaging of Israelis throughout the world. The author indicates that the main message is to try to rebrand Israel– “a government effort to improve a nation’s international image.” Little information is provided by the author regarding the exact method that Israelis using in its rebranding, and I am not positive that this is going to be the most effective manner of combating stereotypes. The Arab nations and Israel have been at odds with one another since long before this Hamas incident, and many Arab states have been spending a great deal of money in portraying a bad image of Israel. The main groups that these messages are aimed at, therefore, are Arab individuals who are already at ends with Israel. Attempting to combat propaganda with opposed propaganda is going to strengthen those core groups who wish to hear this rebranding, but its effect may not penetrate outside of this core group. Explicitly instructing Israeli citizens to combat stereotypes with a script may not provide much credence in this endeavor.