T. Belman. I have come to a similar conclusion on my own. Martin Sherman is known for his view that what is needed is a billion dollar hasbara effort. I told him that I disagree. Advocates of Israel are vastly outnumbered. Reciting the facts, either of the terror we face or the rights we have is no match for the emotional appeal of the underdog and the asymmetry of the death counts.
Many Israelis have resigned themselves to the status quo, thinking that it can be maintained.. I disagree. It is a slippery slope. Israel keeps making gestures and rulings to appease the mob. In doing so we undermine out rights. We are constantly under attack to make concessions.
I believe we must end the “occupation”. By that I mean we should claim sovereignty over J & S, not just in name, but in deed. We would free ourselves to populate these lands. A billion dollars spent doing so would be much more effective than spending it on hasbara. It would undermine the Palestinian cause and shift emphasis to their civic rights from their national rights. There must be only one narrative. Ours. Offense not defense.
Then we must promote compensated emigration among the Arabs. The Jordan Option I have been promoting is made to order.
No amount of PR, regardless of its quality, can counter anti-Zionism and its root, antisemitism.
By RUTHIE BLUM, JPOST
‘Long live the Intifada’: Palestinians and pro-Palestinian supporters protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza amid days of conflict between the two sides, in Brooklyn, New York, US, May 15, 2021.
As has been the case during every war forced on the Jewish state by enemies bent on its destruction, Israel’s ostensibly poor public-diplomacy performance is currently a topic of heated debate. No TV panel is complete without a discussion on the discrepancy between the country’s prowess plus “purity of arms” on the battlefield and its hasbara flop.
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