Israel Prepares Post-War Battle for Public Opinion

Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress at 10:02 AM on January 18, 2009.

Earlier this month, NBC's war correspondent Richard Engel reported that Israel was waiting until Barack Obama's inauguration to let reporters into Gaza, when viewers "simply won't care." Yesterday, Israel declared its war with Gaza over, meaning reporters may now be allowed to enter the strip:

With the fighting over, foreign journalists and non-governmental organisations are expected to flood into the impoverished Palestinian territory to assess the damage from 22 days of massive bombing and shelling.

With this in mind, Israel is reportedly "readying a new offensive -- the battle for public opinion."

AFP reports Israel has begun compiling information to try to prove that many of the 4,000 residential buildings, 51 government buildings, and 20 mosques it hit during the offensive were legitimate targets used by Hamas militants. At least six Israeli ministers will be "fanning out to different countries to press home Israel's view of the conduct of the war." Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog said Israel is aiming to prevent an "over-dramatization of the facts."

Tagged as: war, israel, palestine, middle east, attacks, gaza, public opinion, ceasefire

Faiz Shakir is the Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Editor of ThinkProgress.org and The Progress Report.