{"id":473028,"date":"2026-06-02T21:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/473028\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T21:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:40:10","slug":"how-israeli-politicians-fall-into-the-hasbara-trap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/473028\/","title":{"rendered":"How Israeli politicians fall into the hasbara trap"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> and Defense Minister Israel Katz fell into the hasbara trap. And it\u2019s not even their fault.<\/p>\n

Katz opened with a post on X\/Twitter proudly boasting of the IDF capture of the Beaufort site in Lebanon<\/a>. \u201cThis is a clear message to our enemies, \u201c he wrote. \u201cWhoever threatens the citizens of Israel will lose his strategic assets, one after another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Netanyahu followed with a video message, also flexing muscles: \u201cSince the beginning of the War of Renewal, we have killed 8,000 Hezbollah terrorists,\u201d the prime minister said. \u201cFrom the beginning of Operation Roaring Lion, 3,000. In the past month, 700.\u201d<\/p>\n

How the hasbara trap plagues Israeli public diplomacy<\/p>\n

And so the hasbara trap. The catch-22 that now and forever bedevils Israel\u2019s flailing and earnest efforts at public diplomacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever threatens the citizens of Israel will lose strategic assets.\u201d \u201cWe have killed 8,000.\u201d Great messages for Israeli voters. Great messages to send to Hezbollah<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"IDFIDF shares footage of operation in Beaufort Ridge, May 31, 2026. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)<\/p>\n

For the American swing voter sitting on her couch in Kansas, a less great message.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Notice that Israel Katz even says he has \u201ca clear message to our enemies.\u201d And talks about threats to \u201cthe citizens of Israel.\u201d To the couch in Kansas, he doesn\u2019t have much to say.<\/p>\n

Messaging on Lebanon is in fact a classic case of the hasbara trap. Remember then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

And, yes, over time, doing their small part to sink Israel\u2019s poll numbers in the United States and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Many will argue National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir<\/a> crossed that line with his video of flotilla detainees last week. Many will argue other Israeli politicians have crossed that line as well, especially when talking about civilians in Gaza. But looking at Sunday, neither Katz\u2019s post nor Netanyahu\u2019s video run afoul. Which uncovers the deviousness of the hasbara trap.<\/p>\n

A trap with no easy escape<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t failures at all. They\u2019re choices.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In fact, a trap that marks a healthy way of being, and of talking, for a responsible, sovereign state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz fell into the hasbara trap. And it\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,40127,85,46,2723,43],"class_list":["post-473028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-hasbara","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-israel-katz","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}