Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has reportedly injected a wad of cash into fixing Israel’s global image. But how can it work if Israel keeps shooting itself in the foot?
What comes to your mind when I mention the name Kevin Spacey? Many people will recall his Oscar-winning turn as Keyser Söze in The Usual Suspects, or his portrayal of Machiavellian congressman-turned-president in House of Cards. But most people associate the name Kevin Spacey with a considerably darker episode in his life.
In 2017, at the height of the #MeToo accusations against Hollywood figures, Spacey was accused by a dozen men of historic sexual misconduct, spanning decades. In the following years, charges were brought against him of which he was either acquitted or didn’t make it to trial.
Despite not being found guilty of any crime, Spacey suffered irreparable career damage. The accusations, coupled with bizarre cryptic Christmas videos he released during those years mean that most people view him as unpleasant at best, and a predator at worst.
Although I am a fan of both his movie and TV roles, Spacey hasn’t really been on my radar for several years. So imagine my shock when, in early December, I saw pictures of him and pro-Israel commentator Douglas Murray given a tour of the destroyed Israeli communities on the Gaza border. Spacey claimed to have been in Israel on a solidarity trip and to visit the daughter of a friend of his who was serving in the IDF. A few days later, pictures emerged of him given a personal tour of the Israeli parliament by Amir Ohana, the speaker of the Knesset.
The latter event was lauded by many pro-Israel activists, including former government spokesperson Eylon Levy. An esteemed Hollywood actor was giving his love to Israel when the rest of the world had turned its back on it. However, as I mentioned, most people don’t view Kevin Spacey this way. And those outside of the pro-Israel bubble mocked Israel, which has been accused of giving citizenship to those accused of, or charged with, sexual crimes, for rolling out the red carpet for a man who was ostracized from Hollywood for his behavior.
Why is Israel’s PR so bad?
HOWEVER, OHANA’S cozy photographs with Spacey opened up a larger, and widely discussed, issue: Why is Israel’s PR so bad?
Following October 7, most of the world lent its sympathies to Israel. But those well-wishes dissipated in the weeks that followed as Israel’s invasion of Gaza began. But if the Internet age has proven anything, you don’t need to be in the right or in the wrong to earn support. So, why has Israel failed?
Israel has a special word for plans to work on its image, hasbara, meaning public advocacy. This takes the form of anything from public speakers to musicians and social media influencers. They use their voices to fight for Israel on the global stage, whether on TV news channels, debate halls, or even the comments section on TikTok. You’ve almost definitely seen them on a screen of yours at some point, yelling at their opponent in a virtual, verbal cage match where whoever shouts the loudest and interrupts the most is the winner.
The talking points are all the same – Jews have the biblical right to the land of Israel, Hamas are terrorists and the Gazans are complicit, Israel is only acting in self-defense, etc. If you have heard one, you have heard them all. Yet the points do not stick because they are not aimed at the right people.
Imagine a spectrum of Israeli and Palestinian supporters. On either end, you will get the die-hards, the “my side can do no wrong” people; the “this land belongs to us and us only” people.
From the Palestinian side, you are never going to win them over, no matter what. And on the Israeli side, they are going to support Israel regardless of what argument comes their way. But this is only a minority of the global population on both sides. Much of the world is in the middle, either seeing a nuanced view that both sides have valid arguments or being indifferent to or ignorant of the situation.
THE ISSUE with hasbara is that it doesn’t target the majority. It targets the minority. And that minority is the die-hard, pro-Israel portion, the choir that does not need to be preached to. Showing off a hand-written letter of support from Kevin Spacey in the Knesset may make some in the pro-Israel camp happy, but it alienates those in the middle.
Having Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas’s founder who spied on Hamas for Israel, in his dinner jacket at the Oxford Union calling Palestinians “the most pathetic people on planet earth” may provide some hurrahs for avid hasbara consumers, but the wider world can see a man fueled with anger spewing out racist rhetoric (replace “Palestinians” in the Yousef quote with “Jews” or any other identity and see how that would make you feel).
Take the video showing the last few moments of Yahya Sinwar, missing an arm, face covered with a keffiyeh, fighting off an IDF drone with a stick that Israel released in an attempt to show a weak, cowardly man, cornered and facing a deserved death. This has been interpreted as a man fighting until his last breath for the liberation of his people.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has reportedly set hasbara as a priority, with a reported $150 million being injected to enhance Israel’s image to the world.
Over the last few weeks, Sa’ar has been meeting with an echo chamber of pro-Israel influencers to try and implement a new, more successful strategy. But instead of looking within, Sa’ar and the foreign ministry need to expand its circle.
In order to reach the nuanced, Israel needs to add more nuance. Show the world that we want peace. Give more olive branches to the moderate, Palestinian peace activists. In order to reach the indifferent and the ignorant, it is crucial to make them care.
Jewish and Zionist organizations provide heavily discounted trips to Israel for Jews of all ages in order to strengthen their bond to Israel. And this works, especially for those who previously had no major feelings towards Israel – I speak from experience. Perhaps some of this $150m. could be spent on funding these trips for college students in the US, who are often surrounded by anti-Israel propaganda.
Hasbara is having some success in demonstrating that Israel is a modern, democratic, and relatively, liberal country in the Middle East. This makes it attractive to many, and a lot of influencers and public speakers do manage to convince people to consider the Israeli stance.
Nevertheless, I beg those in the newly rich hasbara department in Israel’s Foreign Ministry, to please spend their money wisely, and to try to divert their attention away from celebrities with the word “disgraced” preceding their name.
The writer is a senior producer and correspondent for i24NEWS English.