Actually this is not the first time Israel has been exposed manipulating public perception. After Iraq War leaked documents exposed Israeli manipulation of US Public and world.
A document was prepared in 2003 for pro-Israel activists by the public relations firm
The Luntz Research Companies and
The Israel Project. The motive of the document was to prepare tactics that Israel and its US advocates should use to maintain support for Israel and its hardline policies, to bring more aid to Israel and justify Israel's stand. The report also mentions Israeli
talking points and buzz words for pro-Israel activists to use to verbally assault the Palestinians. It was to be distributed among the dozens of pro-Israeli organizations in the United States.
The document, entitled
"Wexner Analysis: Israeli Communication Priorities 2003," counsels pro-Israel advocates to keep invoking the name of Saddam Hussein, and to stress that
Israel "was always behind American efforts to rid the world of this ruthless dictator and liberate their people." Despite his solid support for Israel and Ariel Sharon, the document warns pro-Israel advocates not to compliment or praise President Bush. At the same time it acknowledges that Yasser Arafat has been a great asset to Israel because "he looks the part" of a "terrorist" among other things.
I will let the document do the rest of talking instead, please bear with me as I will highlight some important points in the document, or if you would like to read the full document yourself it's posted
here and
here.
In the opening page it says:
THE NEXT STEP
The fact that Israel has remained relatively silent for the three months preceding the war and for the three weeks of the war was absolutely the correct strategy – and according to all the polling done, it worked. But as the military conflict comes to a close, it is now time for Israel to lay out its own "road map" for the future which includes unqualified support for America and unqualified commitment to an ongoing war against terrorism.
Here is some of the key advice the document provides to Israel and its advocates:
1)
Iraq colors all. Saddam is your best defense, even if he is dead. The worldview Americans is entirely dominated by developments in Iraq. This is a unique opportunity for Israelis to deliver a message of support and unity at a time of great international anxiety and opposition from some of our European "allies." For a year – a SOLID YEAR –
you should be invoking the name of Saddam Hussein and how Israel was always behind American efforts to rid the world of this ruthless dictator and liberate their people. Saddam will remain a powerful symbol of terror to Americans for a long time to come. A pro-Israeli expression of solidarity with the American people in their successful effort to remove Saddam will be appreciated.
2)
Stick to your message but don't say it the same way twice. We have seen this in the past but never so starkly as today.
Americans are paying very close attention to international developments and are particularly sensitive to any kind of apparent dogma or canned presentations. If they hear you repeating the exact same words over and over again, they will come to distrust your message. If your speakers can't find different ways to express similar principles, keep them off the air.
3)
It DOES NOT HELP when you compliment President Bush. When you want to
identify with and align yourself with America, just say it. Don't use George Bush as
a synonym for the United States. Even with the destruction of the Hussein regime and all the positive reactions from the Iraqi people, there still remains about 20% of America that opposes the Iraqi war, and they are overwhelmingly Democrat. That leaves about half the Democrats who support the war even if they don't support George Bush. You antagonize the latter half unnecessarily every time you compliment the President. Don't do it.
4)
Conveying sensitivity and a sense of values is a must. Most of the
best-performing sound bites mention children, families, and democratic values. Don't just say that Israel is morally aligned with the U.S. Show it in your language. The children component is particularly important. It is essential that you talk about
"the day, not long from now, when Palestinian children and Israeli children will play side-by-side as their parents watch approvingly."
5)
"SECURITY" sells. Security has become the key fundamental principle for all Americans.
Security is the context by which you should explain Israeli need for loan guarantees and military aid, as well as why Israel can't just give up land. The settlements are our Achilles heel, and the
best response (which is still quite weak) is the need for security that this buffer creates.
9)
A little humility goes a long way. You saw this with your own eyes.
You need to talk continually about your understanding of "the plight of the Palestinians" and a commitment to helping them. Yes, this IS a double standard (no one expects anything pro-Israeli from the Palestinians) but that's just the way things are. Humility is a bitter pill to swallow, but it will inoculate you against critiques that you have not done enough for peace. Admit mistakes, but then show how Israel is the partner always working for peace.
10)
Of course rhetorical questions work, don't they? Ask a question to which there is only one answer is hard to lose.
It is essential that your communication be laced with rhetorical questions, which is how Jews talk anyway.
THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT WORDS: SADDAM HUSSEIN (STILL)
This document is about language, so let me be blunt. "Saddam Hussein" are the two
words that tie Israel to America and are most likely to deliver support in Congress. They also just happen to be two of the most hated words in the English language right now.
Then the author gives a
WARNING
A WARNING
There are some who would say that Saddam Hussein is already old news. They don't understand history. They don't understand communication. They don't understand
how to integrate and leverage history and communication for the benefit of Israel. The day we allow Saddam to take his eventual place in the trash heap of history is the
day we loose our strongest weapon in the linguistic defense of Israel.
The author then mentions the talking points pro-Israeli advocates should use:
THE ISRAELI AID MESSAGE TREE
(1) As a democracy, Israel has the right and the responsibility to defend
its borders and protect its people.
(2) Prevention works. Even with the collapse of Saddam's regime,
terrorist threats remain throughout our region.
(3) Israel is America's one and only true ally in the region. In these
particularly unstable and dangerous times, Israel should not be forced
to go it alone.
(4) With America's financial assistance, Israel can defend its borders,
protect its people, and provide invaluable assistance to the American
effort in the war against terrorism.
This is important. All the arguments about Israel being a democracy, letting Arabs vote and serve in government, protecting religious freedom, etc., won't deliver the public support
you need to secure the loan guarantees and the military aid Israel needs. All the language we have written in past memos will not work when it comes to U.S. tax dollars. You need a national security angle – one that clearly links the interests of both Israel and America:
WORDS THAT WORK:
SELLING ISRAEL AID (I)
"It was Israel who risked their pilots and planes in taking out Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactors and thus thwarted his quest for nuclear weapons of mass destruction.
* It was Israel who provided much of the intelligence that helped America defeat Iraq back in 1991.
* It was Israel alone among Middle Eastern nations that supported America's successful effort to remove Saddam Hussein and liberate the people of Iraq.
* We stood without you against the Saddam regime from beginning to end. Israel has been a key regional asset and military ally of the United States for more than 50 years. That relationship must continue, even and especially in the post-Saddam era. It is a partnership of democracies devoted to the war against terrorism and the fight for freedom."
The document then further suggests which points should pro-Israel advocates use and which to avoid
More talking points on how not to respond to Palestine pressure:
WORDS THAT DON'T WORK
"There is no moral equivalency. On one side you have duly elected and appointed Israeli officials from a democracy that has been operating for more than half a century. On the other side you have corrupt Palestinian officials who have lied, cheated and stolen from their people. Israel will not negotiate until they have someone to negotiate with."[/ex]
WORDS THAT DO WORK
"Whatever the root causes of the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, there are certain tragic cultural facts and differences that stand in the way of peace negotiations between the people of Israel and the Palestinians. No Israeli child has ever strapped a bomb to his back and gone off to kill civilian Palestinians, and yet the Palestinian leadership does too little to dispel the notion among its more extreme citizens that killing Israelis with a suicide bomb is the surest route to heaven. How can Israel deal with a population of parents that stand aside or even encourage their children to become martyrs?"
Yes, this is harsher and more explicit than the previous paragraph, but it works for several reasons:
(1)
The human touch. Mentioning parents and children humanizes and personalizes the terror that Israel has to face every day.
(2)
The rhetorical question. Even pro-Palestinians have a tough time answering that final question. It's time for Israeli spokespeople to ask a lot more unanswerable rhetorical questions as part of their communication effort.
(3)
Acknowledging a cultural difference between Israelis and Palestinians is stating the obvious – and good for your case. Even those Americans that have sympathies for the Palestinian struggle have an easier time relating to the Israelis because of the similarities between America and Israel in culture, tradition and values.
Some of these may sound familiar to you guys as they are constantly used on ATS, atleast now we know the source!
PALESTINIAN SOUND-BITES THAT WORK
Advocates of Israel will do well if they adopt the language that follows:
* "The Palestinians deserve better leadership and they deserve a better society—with functioning institutions, democracy, and the rule of law."
*"We are hoping to find a Palestinian leadership that really does reflect the best interest for the Palestinian people."
*"As a matter of principle, Israel will sit down, negotiate and compromise with those that wish all the peoples of the Middle East to live together in peaceful coexistence.
*Egypt made peace with Israel. Jordan made peace with Israel. And both agreements still live on today."
*"We know what it is to live our lives with the daily threat of terrorism. We know what it's like to send our children off to school one day and bury them the next. For us, terrorism isn't something we read about in the newspaper. It's something we see with our own eyes far too often."
*"We don't want to sign a meaningless agreement that isn't worth the paper it is printed on. We want something real. If there is to be a just, fair and lasting peace, we need a partner who rejects violence and who values life more than death."
*"As a matter of principle, the world should not force Israel to concede to those who publicly deny our right to exist or call for our annihilation."
*"Right now, today, there are still terrorist groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs that the Palestinian Authority has either been unable or unwilling to curb—and Israelis continue to die because of it."
*"Just as the American government pledges to secure for you life, liberty, and the chance to pursue happiness, so must Israel's government guarantee that we will be secure and free.
RHETORICAL QUESTIONS TO ASK OPPONENTS OF ISRAEL
*"How can the current Palestinian leadership honestly say it will pursue peace when the same leaders rejected an offer to create a Palestinian state two and a half years ago?"
*"How can Yassir Arafat, whom Forbes Magazine says is worth more than three hundred million dollars, claim to be a leader who understands and
represents an impoverished people when he has become rich at their expense?"
*"Is it too much to ask that the Palestinian leadership not sponsor terrorists? Are we unreasonable to insist that they stop killing our innocent children
before we jeopardize our security and make concessions for peace?"
*"How can we make peace with a leader that does not believe in or allow free and honest elections?"
*"Why do Palestinian schools have pictures of suicide bombers hanging up in the hallways of their schools or celebrate them as martyrs? Why do they name sports teams in the West Bank after suicide bombers? How can we make peace with the Palestinian people when their leaders instill a culture of terror against our people?"
*"How can the Palestinian people end their impoverishment if their leaders continue to steal precious resources from them, which are then used to support terror?"
*Why has Yassir Arafat been in power for so long, and yet made so little progress towards a peaceful resolution? If he were truly committed to peace, would he not have made a sincere effort to achieve it by now?
*When will the Palestinian people themselves have a voice at the peace table?
Plus lot more in the document. Do read all the 17 pages of the document and see for yourself how Pro-Israel organisations dupe Americans and world using
paid propaganda for for support and aid!! This should be a wakeup call to everyone.
The CEO and President of the Luntz Research Companies and also a frequent commentator on Fox News who prepared this manual is
Mr Frank Luntz.
