New right-wing party leader and former Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan called for Israel to create an “army of hasbara” led by a public diplomacy “chief of staff” and said that the government had “abandoned” the battle over Israel’s global image.
“You need an army of hasbara (public diplomacy) and PR that would be led by ‘Ramatkal’ (IDF chief of staff) of hasbara,” Erdan told The Jerusalem Post following his Thursday announcement that he was launching a new right-wing party. “It never happened. You don't have it. You have only one agency here, one agency there. You have few people with little money. They can't fight with their arms tied behind their backs.”
Erdan attributed Israel’s current public diplomacy problems, at least in part, to what he described as government neglect.
“The Israeli government abandoned maybe one of the most important battles that we were supposed to fight: the fight for the truth and the narrative,” Erdan said.
Erdan blamed the government’s approach for having “led up to the situation that right now” where Israel is bleeding support from both American Democrats and younger Republicans.
He said he had been told directly by leaders of Turning Point USA, the conservative advocacy nonprofit founded by late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, that Israel was “losing the young generation of the Republican Party.”
A ‘comprehensive plan’ for fighting the narrative war
“So I know exactly what should be done,” Erdan continued. “I have a comprehensive plan on how we should work there to portray Israel in the right way, how to be on the offensive, how to expose the true face of our enemies, Qatar and others.”
“I learned a lot from what SJP and others have been doing against us to delegitimize Israel,” he said.
Asked how Israel could turn around the narrative war, Erdan pointed in part to what he described as a major funding gap.
“When I arrived at the UN as the ambassador, I was shocked at my public diplomacy budget,” he said. “It started with $10,000 for public activities in New York.”
Israel's diplomatic missions lack effective resources
Despite Israel maintaining an embassy and eight consulates across the US, Erdan argued that its diplomatic missions lacked the resources needed for effective public diplomacy.
Erdan contrasted Israel’s public diplomacy spending with that of Qatar, which he said had successfully invested in “soft diplomacy” in the US despite having a much smaller economy.
According to the World Bank Group, Israel’s GDP stood at $610.78 billion last year, compared with Qatar’s $215.56 billion.
Given Israel’s nominal GDP advantage, Erdan said, “if they can spend on soft diplomacy and legitimize their crimes and whitewash, pinkwash, whatever you want to call it, their image,” Israel should be capable of mounting a much better-funded and more effective public diplomacy effort.