Israel may bear some of the responsibility for the way the media is dominated by Hamas reports. Netanyahu may be a good politician, but he doesn’t know how to handle the media, and he has done much to ensure that the Israeli government doesn’t have anyone else that can. The public relations aspects of the Israeli government are fragmented and the budgeting for the various offices is dictated more by political party affiliations than by professional qualifications. Press releases are slow to respond to breaking issues.
Consider the reports I mentioned yesterday; excessive casualty figures and claims of “starvation”. There has not been a true problem of malnutrition in all of Gaza since the October massacre. Hamas found an issue that could be used to grab headlines and made good use of it. Fake news was manufactured. Hamas thugs hijacked aid and the media never reported about it. The Israeli government failed to act to prevent Hamas from stealing aid. Netanyahu was over sensitive to the potential charge of bring an “occupier”. Where was the Israeli spokesman when journalists focused on popular demonstrations to delay aid deliveries from inside Israel? Why was the focus on misguided Israeli civil action instead of on Hamas criminal behavior?
Israel provided evidence of UNRWA employees being Hamas members. The story was allowed to die because Israel did not continue to push it. The hostages and their status gets attention from Israel, but not the fact that the very act of kidnapping civilians is a serious international crime. Where are Israeli reports about Hamas avoiding direct negotiations? That’s been an ongoing violation of many UN resolutions and is still a major obstacle to any peaceful solution, not only the American favorite two state model.
I’d like to see more focus on Hamas criminal activity, like the murder of several Gazans who tried to get some aid packages before Hamas had taken their share. Gazans are victims, but of Hamas, not of Israel.
Wetherhorn 