How Israeli politicians fall into the hasbara trap - opinion

Netanyahu followed with a video message, also flexing muscles: “Since the beginning of the War of Renewal, we have killed 8,000 Hezbollah terrorists,” the prime minister said. “From the beginning of Operation Roaring Lion, 3,000. In the past month, 700.”

And so the hasbara trap. The catch-22 that now and forever bedevils Israel’s flailing and earnest efforts at public diplomacy.

For the American swing voter sitting on her couch in Kansas, a less great message.

So welcome to the hasbara trap: the impossibility, by definition, of getting a message right for all audiences. A message positive, even important, for the Israeli public, or for the enemy, is often, by its very nature, dead on arrival in Middle America.

Notice that Israel Katz even says he has “a clear message to our enemies.” And talks about threats to “the citizens of Israel.” To the couch in Kansas, he doesn’t have much to say.

Messaging on Lebanon is in fact a classic case of the hasbara trap. Remember then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s videos from the northern border, threatening destruction upon terrorists on the other side? Healthy in building morale for a writhing Israeli public after October 7. Fitting psychological warfare for the enemy watching from the north.

And, yes, over time, doing their small part to sink Israel’s poll numbers in the United States and elsewhere.

This is not to criticize Netanyahu, Katz, or Gallant. They serve, first and foremost, the public that elected them and pays their salaries. Targeting a message at Israelis is not only an act of tactical political advantage. It is the work of public servants in a democracy.

At the same time, using messaging as a tool against the enemy is an accepted element of warfare, provided statements do not threaten or incite war crimes or human rights abuses.

Marking a domestic audience and an enemy audience as priorities - whether through design or instinct - is legitimate, which is why the hasbara trap is a trap, and a trap with no easy escape.

But a first step is to acknowledge our limitation, the democracy fighting with one hand behind its back. We Israelis and our supporters have wrung our hands over alleged hasbara failings for decades. Yes, we can vent our angst over bureaucratic infighting, poor appointments, lack of budgets, and malaise. But we owe it to ourselves to recognize that part of the alleged failures aren’t failures at all. They’re choices.

Choices to behave as a sovereign state, responsible to its own citizens. Choices to behave as a sovereign state, responsible for defeating the enemy through all legitimate means, including belligerent speeches.

Choices that are legitimate not only in retrospect, but also in principle. Yes, ambassadors and non-profits and individual advocates should explain why, beneath it all, the public here desires peace even if in a post-October 7 world it is comforted, paradoxically, by war, or at least tough talk.

But even if we wish that cleanup crew well, we need to recognize the mess. A mess that is not actually a mess. Even if it is a trap.

In fact, a trap that marks a healthy way of being, and of talking, for a responsible, sovereign state.