Naddoður
Active member
Like many military operations in the past that ended with unexpected casualties the IDF was caught unprepared and without an adequate response to the reports on Monday morning that some 10 activists aboard the Mavi Marmara had been killed.
Instead of taking the initiative and setting the media tone, the Israeli PR machine was scrambling for damage control on Monday.
Does this mean that the IDF did not prepare?. No; The first tactic chosen was to try and undermine the flotilla’s legitimacy and show that the ships were organized by a radical Islamic group called IHH that was based in Turkey and had ties with Hamas.
The government also went out of its way to prove that there was not a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Reporters were invited down to the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza and shown the truckloads of food and medical supplies that Israel transfers daily to the Strip.
But, as in the past, when hell broke loose, the government and military spokespeople could not be found. It took the IDF more than four hours to respond.
If the IDF had hoped to obtain a complete media blackout and planned to jam the signals from the Mavi Marmara; well this did not work and the cameras on the ship successfully transmitted images throughout most of the takeover and enabled the activists to get their message out about the Israeli “aggression.”
Without an Israeli response – which came out later in the day and seemingly proved that the soldiers acted in self defense – the media was full of one-sided reports based on Al Jazeera. What Israel needs to realize is that in today’s media world, every minute counts.
Instead of taking the initiative and setting the media tone, the Israeli PR machine was scrambling for damage control on Monday.
Does this mean that the IDF did not prepare?. No; The first tactic chosen was to try and undermine the flotilla’s legitimacy and show that the ships were organized by a radical Islamic group called IHH that was based in Turkey and had ties with Hamas.
The government also went out of its way to prove that there was not a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Reporters were invited down to the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza and shown the truckloads of food and medical supplies that Israel transfers daily to the Strip.
But, as in the past, when hell broke loose, the government and military spokespeople could not be found. It took the IDF more than four hours to respond.
If the IDF had hoped to obtain a complete media blackout and planned to jam the signals from the Mavi Marmara; well this did not work and the cameras on the ship successfully transmitted images throughout most of the takeover and enabled the activists to get their message out about the Israeli “aggression.”
Without an Israeli response – which came out later in the day and seemingly proved that the soldiers acted in self defense – the media was full of one-sided reports based on Al Jazeera. What Israel needs to realize is that in today’s media world, every minute counts.