A War Of Words And Images

摘要

After their last controversial war, against Lebanon in 2006, Israelis commonly blamed the press for sapping morale by covering the carnage too closely. Israel is now better prepared. The tactics it deploys on the media front are as cunning and punchy as those its army has been wielding against Hamas in Gaza.rnBack in November, few outside the region noticed when Israel suddenly blocked foreign reporters' access to the crowded Strip. But the information prong of Israel's Gaza offensive involves far more than the tight control of press access. Israel has fully utilised its expertise at hashara, a Hebrew word meaning literally "explanation", but referring more broadly to image promotion. Platoons of on-message spokesmen are available to foreign reporters in Israel at all hours of the night and day.