Many players, whether representatives of the Israeli government, the army, or the many volunteers and Jewish leaders, have been trying to organize private showings of the IDF Spokesperson’s documentation of Hamas’s terrible massacre on October 7, for influencers around the globe.
The film, some 40 minutes long, has caused parliamentarians worldwide to burst into tears after seeing it. It shows the most graphic videos and photos that display the brutality carried out by the Hamas terrorists, whether by raping women after shooting them in their knees to ensure no resistance or the murder of children and babies in the most horrifying ways.
The IDF film, titled “Hamas Massacre – Collected Raw Footage, Oct. 7, 2023,” features a combination of footage from various sources, including GoPro body cameras worn by the terrorists themselves, dashcams from the cars of both terrorists and civilians, closed-circuit television recordings, cellphone footage, and more. The footage has been skillfully edited to provide different perspectives on the same event as the day unfolded.
The film has also been widely regarded as highly impactful; three hours of discussion followed one screening for Americans. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit acted swiftly and intelligently in assembling this compelling evidence of heinous acts, driven by antisemitism and pure evil.
But two important questions arise:
First, why was the movie shown only to small audiences of influencers or decision-makers? The hype and secrecy add to the intrigue and interest.
On the other hand though, while Hamas and its proxies publish real, as well as fake, footage daily, of the Gaza ruins and those who were killed or injured by IDF attacks, Israel isn’t showing anything dramatic anymore.
The understanding has been that the families of those killed and or kidnapped vetoed opening the screening to all, or airing it on social media, for millions to see why Israel is fighting so rigorously in Gaza. Israel, as opposed to any of its Middle Eastern neighbors, is a democracy and also respects the privacy of its citizens. Israel is a Western country, whether you like it or not. Therefore, it may be commendable that Israel has listened to these families, whose lives were destroyed on October 7; but it may also be what’s causing us to lose our lead in the international arena.
If Israel were to break the film into smaller clips, for example, and slowly give exclusivity to large international networks footage from the bloodiest day in our history, maybe, the world would remember what, why, and who we are fighting. Many of those babies killed lost their lives since Hamas wouldn’t let their parents flee with them.
But instead of working in a war mode about the international media, Israel is, again, playing the nice guy. We have some very impressive spokespeople who are giving interviews around the clock, but one minute from the Hamas horror movie would be 10x more powerful. Instead, many individuals, not all in sync, are trying to broadcast this video smartly and effectively, but we are losing in this battleground, and we need to be more vigorous and graphic. You cannot win a war with a terrorist organization, even just through the media, by being diplomatic and smart.
Who is in charge of coordinating these showings?
The Foreign Ministry (MFA) and its diplomats around the world have been and will continue to show the video to as many people as possible; so have volunteers who have been trying to assist the Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office, an entity which it remains unclear whether it has enough funds or authority – otherwise, why do they need volunteers to distribute the Hamas film?
This division in the PMO in charge of convening and managing all of Israel’s advocacy, or hasbara as it is called in Hebrew, doesn’t even have a website in English – let alone any other language but Hebrew.
According to the website, “The Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office” serves as “the professional entity responsible for coordinating and harmonizing the explanatory activities of all official bodies engaged in information dissemination within the State of Israel.”
The government decision defined its role as follows: “The directorate shall coordinate all entities engaged in information dissemination within the State of Israel, to present a credible, cohesive, and consistent explanatory policy.”
The Foreign Ministry announced last week that it doesn’t have enough funds to continue the advocacy for Israel after running out of budget funds. The Diaspora Affairs and Combating Ministry has been doing a good job trying to bridge that gap by putting out hundreds of videos about the attacks in Israel – but they have no boots on the ground, and are supposed to be supplementary to the MFA and PMO efforts, not instead.
Ironically, the only official spokesperson for Israel that seems to be working strongly is the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, distant from the political turmoils that damaged Israel’s advocacy efforts and the dismantling of historic or even new ministers, to assist political needs in the past few governments, which have all been fragile and short-lived.
The Jewish people’s creativity and excellence are somehow not able to run a focused and strategic long-term campaign on what is seen by many as an existential threat. It is time for Israel to take those gloves off and get back in the game; there is no time for political correctness. We live in the Middle East, not the West.