Israel’s PR czar urges nixing victimhood messaging

Israel needs to frame its story as a battle for Western civilization, and not through the eyes of victimhood, the head of the National Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office said on Monday.

“Israel is fighting the world’s fight, and it is a battle of good vs. evil,” Tzipi Hotovely said at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem. “Telling the story from the point of view of victim-hood is losing the story because this is not the message.”

The former deputy foreign minister and ambassador to the United Kingdom said that such positive messaging would naturally align with Israel’s friends, who would amplify it.

Hotovely cited the fighting in Southern Lebanon near Beaufort Castle, nine miles from Israel’s border, where a massive Hezbollah underground tunnel was uncovered that was intended to create “10 times October 7” in Galilee communities.

She added that Israel needed to emphasize its historic connection to the Land of Israel, dating back four millennia, rather than a century ago, and to better coordinate its messaging.