The best public relations results come through military victory. You may even get to write the history books. Do you remember what the newspapers said during the Peloponnesian Wars, The Battle of Bull Run, The Battle of the Bulge, The Marne? And so on.

Cockney rhyming slang.For example,"these hamas people are radio rental, they are a real pain in the gregory and these bacardi breezers are giving us omar sharif" translates as : These hamas are mental,a pain in the neck,these geysers are giving us grief...

I've been living in Israel for many years, and I still cringe while watching Shimon Peres speak on tv. Its very difficult to understand what he's saying, and I imagine most people outside of Israel don't have the patience to hear him out, or others like him. On the other hand, check out Daniel Shek, Israel's Ambassador to France on www.france24.com, giving an interview. His English is flawless, his accent extremely light, and he gives an excellent appearance. I was impressed hearing him on tv for the first time this week. Why can't their be others like him? Even Israelis with English mother tongue?

Fire over 3000 rockets into israel before the first bomb landed in gaza. Oscar Hamas needs to be handed out Justice for the war crimes of firing rockets into Israel. you are note mute Oscar you are BLIND

Barak and Livney do need improve there verbal skills in english. Bibi's english verbal skills are great and very good and he is a very good in english interviews. . I think that Barak and Livney are better off speaking in hebrew with a translater than see them break there teeth getting there points out A person like Mark Regev needs to be get more Air Time to get the points across

While it seems like they had the entire crew ready, we have heavy "untrustworthy" accents and lack of interest? I could be wrong, but all the protestors front of Israel's Embassies and street pro-"free palestine" have lead me to the conclusion that our side is not well represented. We need to gather the facts with visuals and let a well spoken/ logical argumented diplomat present it. Pick me or another Jewish American quickly. May Only One be The Judge, but the eyes of the world are harshly pointing in the midst of all the caos and we need to give importance to it. While a pledge to recite Psalm 130 keeps me in hope, I still wish we can work this issue out. Fluent English is Not Common English This FENCE is blocking the truth for all.

Esti Appelbaum-Polani said it all. She is absolutely right. FM Livni should not appear on CNN or any other foreign TV station.

How can we get this ball rolling? Who knows which strings to pull? Also: Besides English, we need German and Spanish so all understand our side. Lets jump on this now! Now is the time to start. I am willing to help where I can. Lets move on this now.

... siege starts after Hamas was democraticlly elected. Forget about good or bad english: yow lost the media war because you are wrong.

Dear: i think that your opinion is very valuable, but even with the best english, media will does not change, and the minds that are against the civilization will always be in the opposite side, this is a mental pathology, so you need to study about that too, I am very sorry about your short conclusion, Americans, Britains, and others english speakers, have the same problem, and they are hundred millions. To conclude, the problem name is terrorism , do not loose the subject .

livini i could understand if i concentrated really hard. as for the israeli u.n. woman ambassador, i couldn't understand one word she tried to say in english. sorry, but it all sounded like gibberish. barak's english is also difficult to understand. then BIBI came on, and the heaven's opened. he spoke perfect english in coherent sentences and made complex points on behalf of israel that were totally understandable and persuasive. and his spoke with moral conviction. forget politics, work together for israel, and use bibi as israel's spokesperson for operation cast lead. israel will WIN the public relations battle hands down. bibi is your ultimate weapon.

We definitely have a linguistic issue, but more importantly we have a messaging issue. While the IDF is finally on the offensive, Israel's PR is always on the defensive, countering Palestinian claims rather than putting forth ours.

B"H No English speaking will ever convince the nations to love us. Strength could compel them to respect us.

I do not agree. Yes - her English skills leave a lot to be desired, she needs to brush up her vocabulary and she uses Hebrew expressions in English. But she does a fairly good job. She speaks right to the point, she brings up valid arguments, she "fights" back in a fairly diplomatic but firm tone and she is coherent enough. One more thing - she's the FM and that has a greater standing than a mere spokeswoman.

in the war between good and evil, forget the ugly.

I agree completely with the article. As an Israel activist I hear constant pleas for better Israeli spokespeople. Israelis have to learn better English and be briefed on the meaning and emotional resonance of certain key words, expressions and values. There are also highly educated Israelis in the U.S. who could join the ranks of Pro-Israel speakers.

1. resurgence of practicing Xtians 2. a very nonsecular America occupying traditionally Muslim lands in close proximity and intimate contact with Muslims and Xtian Arabs. They are becoming sympathetic to each others plight namely (Jews); it is all in their sacred texts; with xtians it is the whole Deicide thing and with Muslims it was Jewish subterfuge in opposition of their prophet. 3. Jews speak Hebrew and English, Arabs speak Arabic and English but, most Jews won't speak Arabic and most Arabs adamantly refuse to speak Hebrew.

... it would indeed be helpful having people who can explain the situation in the language of the countries they are talking to. For Germany that could be Avi Primor or Shimon Stein for example, two well respected former ambassadors to Berlin. But one shouldn't forget that the best explanations won't reach a person who is emotionally prejudiced and denies realizing the facts. Furthermore, a lot of people fail to realize the "bigger picture" – the "history" of this conflict, Israel's strategic situation and the intentions of its enemies – all requiring a certain degree of deterrence in this unfriendly neighbourhood. I guess, wide parts of Europe (and possibly South America as well) don't understand that the Palestinians are no innocent children and that "terror is a strategic weapon" – as Ariel Sharon once pointed out.

What in heavens name is this person driveling on about? Every representative from the ground upwards, who has been interviewed on TV, speaks excellent English!

If Israel's spokespeople are not fluent in English, it is not for lack of English speaking Israelis. There are many first, and second generation U.S., and British Commonwealth, immigrants living in Israel. Maybe the method of picking Israeli spokespeople should be examined to make sure that these positions are open to English speaking Israelis.

Livni is the worst English speaker. I sent an email to Peres and Livni, asking that Peres or Bibi speak for the nation of Israel. Livni had an interview on Fox News here in the US, and she was laughing during the interview, totally disrespectful, especially when they were discussing the civilians being killed. It was the most terrible interview i have seen from an Israeli leader.

Tsipi is a disaster in any language, but grating, and completely nincompoopy in English, a language she only knows a few words in. With a very low IQ, she is unable to learn English. In fact, she has no qualifications whatsoever to be a leader in Israel, stunning isn't it, but that's the truth - none, whatsoever. Israelis' inability to listen and to communicate is not getting better - it's all because of hubris, thinking I am so clever I don't need to follow the rules others do.

you need to have a strategic commitment to PR. You need to do what Hizbollah does: 1) Keep track of ALL journalists and ALL their stories. They write nice articles then they get to come again, they don't then they don't get to come again 2) Aggressively deal with people who lie. Phone their editors and ask why they employ frauds. Make sure any corrections are prominently displayed. Where possible take legal action for libel. 3) Do that ESPECIALLY in Israel to some newspapers - cough cough Ha'aretz - where the commitment to accurate reporting is not exactly high.

I have written about this for the last thirty years, during my career as a Federation director. It is arrogance of the Israeli leadership that they don"t care. I have brought Israeli diplomats who could barely speak the language. This time , even Bibi would have a hard time competing with the graphic TV pictures which show a very slanted picture of what is happening

The problem is with the people of the world. The trend is to hate the USA and Israel. Westerners even sided with Russia against Georgia -- Why, because Georgia is pro-USA. Westerners are gullible and have been sucked in by the propaganda. Israel has its own gullible Israelis who are sucked in by "Yes, we can" and "Change". Obama was an anti-American candidate. But some people of Israel actually go for that anti-Bush, redneck trendy hatred too, even when they're surrounded by terrorists. The Western world is just fighting against itself. Until that changes, no one will see the truth -- regardless of what language they're using.

When interviewed on the international media, its spokesmen answer questions as if talking to their domestic media, instead of taking a pro-active, aggressive approach . They should see their job as educational, putting the facts out. Why don't we react to Pallywood, and to other distortions? We are a nation of lawyers, for Heaven's sake, yet we are all struck dumb! Why don't we tell them simple basic truths such as that the Jews are the only ones who ever had a nation-state here, and that in 1920 the world recognized our national rights to this land, and that 800,000 Jews were expelled from Arab countries, etc. We should defend our unquestionable, elementary, legitimate rights The answer is that Israel, believing it has no choice but to accept the world's position, allows itself to be boxed into a corner. We should defend our unquestionable, elementary, legitimate rights and tell the truth

Only in Israel does one have the ability to read the opinions of an anglo-centric minor lecturer at an unknown college!! Ms. Appelbaum-Polani how many languages besides English do you speak at native speaker level? And how is it Ms. Appelbaum-Polani that you a lecturer in Communications have managed to forget that there is a whole world out there that speaks languages other than English? Good Public Relations and good government administration and management of a war aren'tt just about coming across well on television. (Bibi does television well but well we all saw how he ran our country into the ground!) We need people not just with good language skills but with the ability to get the message accross...knowing a language doesn't automatically mean that one is good at getting the message accross!