From the time of Ben
Gurion, Israel’s leaders have not recognized the need for a
well-conceived information policy. Traditionally, they have viewed world
public opinion with indifference, passivity, or fatalism. Israel now
faces a new situation: an aggressive ideological assault whose objective
is to undermine and delegitimize the state. Ideological warfare, as
opposed to public relations, represents a compelling danger requiring a
vigorous and focused response. This article defines the concept of
ideological warfare and recommends several responses.
The basic precondition of
making Israel’s case before world public opinion is a clear idea of its
own history and national identity. Because the present derives from the
past, the importance of history as the foundation of information policy
is basic. Accordingly, Israel’s enemies have endeavored to attack its
legitimacy by falsifying both the history of the state and the history
of the Jewish people. When combined with current post-Zionist thinking,
this has created a situation harmful to a positive information policy.
Several major components
of ideological warfare are identified. One is the “Big Lie”, which
English propagandists introduced during the First World War and German
Nazi leaders refined. Repetition, as employed in advertising, is its
principle. A second tactic, combining propaganda with political
agitation, may be found in Israeli domestic politics. Lenin developed
this method in the early 1920s, as a means of destabilizing his
adversaries through an appeal to pacifistic sentiments. Such tactics,
perfected by the foremost totalitarian states of the twentieth century,
represent a threat to Israel, a democracy at war.
Israel has a strategic interest in responding proactively and forcefully
to the very considerable threat of ideological warfare. The government
must speak clearly with one voice. It must challenge misrepresentations
and lies and discredit those who spread them, be they individuals, the
press, governments, international bodies, and NGOs. In the broadest
possible perspective, Israel has a strong interest in maintaining at
home and abroad an ideological environment compatible with its own moral
principles and the defense of its democracy, founded upon the rule of
law and equal standards for individuals and governments.
