Lecture 7
Israel In The Media

Introduction

"And David put his hand in his bag and took from there a stone and slung it and struck Goliath in the head, and slew him."
- The First Book of Samuel
Chapter 17, vs. 48-50

'Jews are news' - This popular expression is as valid today as it has been since time in memorium. Consequently, if the world is but a stage, Israel has been cast with a main role. During this lecture we shall discuss why Israel has been at the center of world attention since its inception and shall ask what elements of the Arab Israeli Conflict contribute to Israel being a worthy news story. In order to achieve this purpose we shall need to differentiate between different historic periods, for it will transpire that Israel's image vacillates between an image of a country with power and a country that is a victim. At different times Israel is depicted as either David or Goliath. It will also be necessary to identify three separate 'audiences' of Israel's image, namely: world Jewry, the non Jewish world and Israel self perception. By so doing, we shall obtain a comprehensive picture of Israel's image in the media.

Israel's Media Image - An Historical Perspective

It is possible to identify four separate periods in the development of Israel's media image. Namely: (I) 1948-67 'The Period of Victim'; (II) 1967-90 'The Period of Oppressor'; (III) 1990-June 96 'The Period of Peace Maker'; (IV) June 96 - Hardline Israel returns.

1. 1948-67 - The Image of Victim.

   It is possible to define the image of Israel in two ways: Israel's power and Israel's morality. In the eyes of western predominantly Christian culture, the two are irreconcilable. For Israel to be morally strong is an anathema. For over two millennia the Jews have been considered a stiff necked people who deserved their role as victim. It is only in recent years that the Vatican has lifted the blame for the guilt of Christ's crucifixion from the Jewish people en masse.

   Immediately prior to the creation of the State of Israel the remnants of Jewry in Europe were considered weak and desperate. Indeed the Zionist propaganda played on this image of Israel in order to gain support for their movement . In 1948 Israel was David, small, weak, "swordless' fighting the Goliath of the Arab world with the shadow of Auschwitz still on the horizon. The remnants of world Jewry were seen as fighting for survival yet again. The State of Israel was perceived as being in a helpless situation, whilst retaining the moral high ground by world Jewry, and the world at large as the 'light unto the nations'.

   During this period Israeli self perception differed. Whilst aware of its own weakness, Israel sought to consolidate its position; it sought the certainty of survival. In Zionist ideology, Israel was perceived as providing the womb for the birth of the 'new Jew', strong and proud. The image of David may have suited the rest of the world, but David himself aspired to be Samson.

   During much of this period the media itself was unsophisticated with the newspaper and radio predominating. Television came into its own as an important news medium Ed Murrow's relentless campaign on CBS news against McCarthyism illustrated the power of the media. The Six Day War (1967) was Israel's first televised war. David's conflict for survival was brought directly to the attention of the world at large. The tension of the battlefield was brought into the comfort of the viewers lounge. The ability to see the faces of young Israeli soldiers fighting for the survival of their country was far more dramatic and entertaining than reading about it. Television, the ultimate entertainment medium, had found a new outlet.




2. 1967-1990 - From David to Goliath

   The Six Day War was a turning point for Israel and Israel's image. As a consequence of the war, Israel took control of what is today over 1.8 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel conquered the Golan Heights from Syria, and Sinai from Egypt and reunited Jerusalem after defeating Jordan. Whilst world Jewry celebrated, the world at large began to consider the consequences.

   Diaspora Jewry, especially from the U.S.A., Britain, South Africa and Australia, saw the reunification of Jerusalem as a rekindling of Zionist aliya. Indeed, after 1967, there was an increase in aliya from these countries. Israel was strong and was perceived, as Ahad Ha'am had once predicted, a spiritual, cultural center for the Jewish people.

   In contrast, the world at large began to view Israel's new strategic advantage with trepidation. The new Israel and new Jew were antithetical to the image of the Jew adopted by Christianity for nearly two millennia. The newly empowered David was depicted lacking morality. The might of Israel, despite the new disaster of 1973, the Yom Kippur war, became a new obsession for the media.

   This period saw an orchestrated campaign by the PLO to gain world support. Terrorism and particular hijacking became the means to achieving the PLO's goals. A forceful educational campaign directed at the New Left accompanied the use of violence on the international stage. The PLO's propaganda adopted a revolutionary flavor, depicting Israel as colonialist and a tool of western imperialism. The struggle of the PLO was presented as the struggle of the "oppressed" against the "oppressor". The greatest success of the PLO campaign was the declaration by the United Nations in 1975 that Zionism was Racism. With the passing of this resolution Zionism was intellectually discredited and Israel became a pariah State.

   Israel itself sought to sell itself as moral and strong. The world refused to accept this apparent contradiction. Moreover, as Israel sought increasing foreign aid, the need to prove its credentials as an important military ally increased. Foreign aid required Israel to reemphasize its strength at the cost of its moral image.

   The PLO first entered Lebanon in the 1970's after a near civil war and consequent expulsion from Jordan. The massacres at Sabra and Shatilla, Palestinian refugee camps, during the Lebanon war proved a low point in Israel's media image. Israel, whilst not committing the atrocities, was implicated in the events. The world saw Israel as all powerful, and lacking morality. The PLO was apt in propaganda in Lebanon. The image of Israel had come full circle. The Jews, the victim, was perceived as the perpetrator. The Jew had replaced the Nazi, the Palestinian had replaced the Jew.

   Diaspora Jewry was also perplexed. Should they criticize Israel or remain loyal to it? As television news brought the reality of war nightly to Diaspora Jewry, their anxiety increased as did the anxiety of many of their Israeli counterparts. The media was not sparing in its criticism.

   From the Lebanon War onwards it is possible to discern a number of themes in the media's depiction of Israel. Israel is seen as all powerful, and a bastion state. It is militaristic and supported by the U.S.A.

   The Palestinian Intifada, of 1987 provided a continuity of the image of Israel at war in the quagmire of Lebanon. The uprising provided the ultimate news story: the victim, the survivor of the holocaust had become a soldier and was fighting 'defenseless' children throwing stones. David had become Goliath and the Palestinians became the new David. Daily violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip provided for the exigencies of television: an entertainment media. From December 9th, 1987 - April 4, 1988 the 3 big news channels in the U.S.A.: ABC, NBC & CBS carried 375 stories (approximately 590 minutes) on the Intifada. Paradoxically the Intifada also revealed the limitations of television as a news media.

   "When Israeli soldiers swing clubs among rioters TV gets a lot of what it likes best. They shock the viewers: they compel attention when action is the essence of the story."

   In some cases the presence of television cameras provoked violence, where Palestinian youth would create "spontaneous" riots for the press. Within a few months the Intifada became a media war, of nightly clashes. Israelis were depicted as faceless fighting machines and Palestinians as children with stones.




3. 1990-1996 - Peace Maker

   The change in Israel's image began during the Gulf War. Israel, whilst suffering daily attacks by scud missiles on its civilian centers, did not retaliate. In accordance with a Christian morality Israel turned the other cheek. During the Gulf War Israel succeeded to depict an image that it had sought since 1967: a country that was strong, but moral and a victim. During the Gulf War the threat of the use of chemical warfare against Israel was a constant threat. For the first time since the Holocaust Jews were facing the threat of death by gas and the moral indignation of the world was aroused. Moreover the support for Iraq by the PLO damaged the virtu

   ous image of Palestinians. Israel 's image began to transform.

   The Madrid Conference (1991) witnessed for the first time the Arab world and Israel at the conference table. For the television it was a spectacular media event. Yet, when David and Goliath shook hands, an unforeseen twist in the tale took place. The stereotypical images of Jew and Palestinian were shattered. The Arafat - Rabin z"l handshake preempted a new beginning in Israel's media image, where "moral" was to be defined as favoring the peace process and immoral were those who opposed it, whether Palestinian or Jewish.

   The phenomena of suicide bombings against Israeli civilian targets perpetuated the new moral delineation by the media. Hamas, who had previously been depicted as victims when Rabin expelled 400 of their members to Lebanon, were now portrayed as a terrorist group. Israelis had returned to an image of David; weak but moral and deserving sympathy.

   The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin z"l on November 4, 1995 provided an opportunity to reinforce the new found image of Israel. For the media, as indeed for many Israelis, the image of Rabin as warrior come peacemaker, symbolized Israel itself. (See lecture 5 "The Creation of President Rabin). The assassination, filmed only by amateur video and screened on Israeli television, emphasized for television the new evil in the Middle East namely fundamentalism.

   A fundamentalism that knew no bounds. As violence decreased between Palestinian and Jews. Israel oriented stories were slowly replaced by reports from Bosnia. The violence of Sarejevo replaced the violence of Gaza as television turned its cameras to a new, more deadly and entertaining war.




4. June 1996 : Reversal of Imagery

   On May 29, 1996 Israel voted for a new Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyhu, of the right wing Likud. The media, without any statement by the new government, saw the election result in negative light. Sky News introduced its stories with the description of "A New Hardline Israel". If Israel's image had been tarnished by Pere's Operation Grapes of Wrath, Netanyhu's election provided a new outlet for media dispair. The image of Israel in the media has not yet reverted to that of Israel during the Intifada, for today the PLO and Israel are still negotiating partners. Yet, in the eyes of the media Israel's newly found image of morality has been tarnished by a new democratically elected government.

Conclusion

The problem of Israel in the media is not to be found in antisemitism, but in television as a media itself. In essence, television is an entertainment media. The success of television is decided by ratings. Television to succeed has to be interesting and such news has to provide drama and visual imagery. Television simplifies. The conflict between Jew and Arab is explained by an image, an emotion or a sound byte. It is the nature of television as a media that is the determining factor in its incapability in explaining the complexity of the issue.

1. Survey by Media Public Affairs in Washington DC; quoted by: Tal Eliyahu 'Israel in the Medialand'
2. Zuckerman, Mortimer B.; U.S. News and World Report 1/2/1988; quotes Tal Ibid p.21

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