Published: 23 October 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
FOR A GOVERNMENT TO be concerned about national image isn’t vanity, and it isn’t only about trade: image is also a national security issue. Governments know their citizens will reward them for protecting another state with a positive image, and might resent them spending resources protecting another country with a weak or negative image.
Why else did so many countries fail to respond to Russian aggression against Ukraine? Because their leaders knew their populations didn’t know or care much about Ukraine. Yet governments have been noticeably more strident about criticising China for its treatment of Hong Kong, partly no doubt because Hong Kong has a positive image. A weak country with a weak image is a sitting duck.
Israel’s use of hasbara to promote its side of the story is easy to understand, but may actually make things worse by reminding people of a troubling issue they would rather not think about. Media researchers found in the 1960s that attempting to tackle a negative national image through public relations will often produce the opposite effect, merely reminding people of the country they already know they mistrust.
Being constantly presented with “good news” stories about a country they know they hate is more likely to result in them rejecting the media than changing their minds about the country.
And ‘changing the subject’ seldom works either: when a country becomes defined by its problems in the public imagination, as is I think the case with both Israel and Palestine, people often show very little interest in topics other than those defining problems.
So what should Israel talk about in order to improve its image and thus improve its engagement with the international community?
FULL STORY Why Israel should drop hasbarah (Jewish Chronicle)
Photo: Israel advocacy campaign in Australia, 2014 (Nikki Short/AAP)
