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The media image of Israel represented an example of Israel’s failure to manage its media battle, and thus the failure of Israel’s media policies. This is what gave Al Jazeera an upper hand in the battle for dominance over the media image, on television screens, and on media communication networks, Arab and international, which raises questions about The extent of the efficiency of the Israeli media for the second time since the establishment of the State of Israel. This is the image that President Anwar Sadat was able to hijack and shake when he visited Jerusalem in 1977. He became the only star in the Land of Israel while the image of Israel faded in front of him.
The credibility of the resistance
This time, on October 7, the Palestinian resistance seemed to be losing the battle internationally in the face of Israel’s claims, and gaining it in the Arab world, while the media capabilities of the Palestinian resistance – which were based on broadcasting live images and sober discourse – led to gaining increasing ground in the Arab world, and then internationally. by the time.
However, the assassination of Hamza al-Dahdouh, and the position of his father and the close-knit family, formed a media image that drew international attention to Israel’s killing of families in Gaza, something that the international media did not deal with seriously, so the successive assassinations of members of the al-Dahdouh family formed a pattern that was being measured against. This is what made the war The Israeli genocide in Gaza has more credibility than any Israeli narrative to deny it.
Did Israel fail?
The truth that is determined by practical reality is more complex, as Israel’s media policies currently belong to decision-making centers that do not practice their supposed ideal action, but rather practice it under the influence of historical conflicts and interests that conflict with each other, many of which are ingrained in their time, or unruly in their goals, or violent in their approach. Its practice, and in light of these circumstances, the political decision – and therefore the media policies resulting from it – are definitely governed by non-ideal factors!
There is something that intersects between the supposed ideal and the reality that expresses interests, whatever these interests may be, so the role of media policies is usually to create a bright image, justify actions or save conflicting or weak decisions.
Effective mediator
Media policies are in the process of transforming into a world that has its connections with other worlds. It is not based on news or the media, but rather uses anthropological, sociological, and historical sciences, as well as modern technologies.
Making these policies, then, is not as easy as some might imagine, as the state determines its goals, the way to reach them, its philosophy, and the necessary change process at the right time, in addition to being the effective mediator between the state and the public, to create a state of harmony between them, and exchange influence for the benefit of both parties.
Here we find that for the first time, the shaky confidence in the Israeli Prime Minister makes the Israeli government lose credibility even at the level of the internal media, which did not happen in the October 1973 war, nor in any other war that Israel fought.
The most successful policies are those based on establishing a balanced relationship between the public and the state, as the role of the state must not depend on making the public adapt to it, but the state itself must adapt to the external environment, including the publics who are active towards it. Building a strategic relationship between the two parties depends on understanding Mutual and effective communication is two-way, rather than relying on one-way persuasion strategies. The ability of those in charge of managing this relationship depends on several factors, including: independence in decision-making, the power and importance enjoyed by audiences, the climate of media coverage, as well as legal and regulatory restrictions.
Netanyahu’s isolation
Those responsible for managing this relationship in Israel had to design messages that addressed the personal needs of individuals, and one of these needs is for the individual to feel that he is important, and that the public interest takes precedence over everything else. Failure to do so leads day after day to the isolation of Netanyahu, and then his government until it became… The Israelis’ critical voice grows louder with the arrival of bodies and wounded from the field with a people who are accustomed to never losing a war, so how will they be satisfied with this deep pain inside them?
In addition, Muslims in the West, through the materials broadcast by Al Jazeera in English and social media, tipped the scales in favor of the vision presented by the Palestinian resistance, which led to a coup in Western public opinion, and this is what Western governments did not anticipate well at the beginning of the war. Muslims They have become a number in the equation inside Europe and America, and this was not in the mind of media policy makers in Israel. For the first time, this shift may push politicians in the West in the future to be cautious in dealing with sensitive issues in the Arab region.
