Internet politics slowly coming to life, say experts
Israeli politicians launch growing number of blogs, personal websites, but gap with US remains
In what is one of the first uses by an Israeli politician of Youtube, the user-based video service, a speech by Labor's Ami Ayalon – who has launched a bid to replace Amir Peretz as Labor chairman - was posted on his personal website.
"I would like to welcome each and every one of you… for coming here to take part in the return of the Labor party to power, an honest leadership to power," Ayalon said in the video, receiving applause by his supporters.
"The first decent thing to do is to speak the truth – bitter truth, but the truth nonetheless," he added.
He went on to call on Israel "to return to sanity" by electing Labor to power, and noting the "loss of trust by the electorate in the current leadership."
The internet has also seen attacks on the government originate from the Israeli right. On his personal blog, Knesset Member Effie Eitam (National Union-Mafdal) launched a bitter verbal assault on Defense Minister Amir Peretz.
"Even for those who have grown accustomed to the impermeability of the government, it was difficult to digest the objection of Defense Minister Peretz to my draft law, which called for excusing those who have married IDF widows from reserve duty," Eitam wrote.
"Only someone who has no heart and humane sensitivity will fail to understand the impossible and inhumane experience which a woman who has lost her husband in war goes through," he added. "Her second husband – her only chance to recover and return to normal life – is called to the battlefield," Eitam said. "The rejection of this law is the last nail in the coffin of my faith in this defense minister," he added.
Meanwhile, Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu has used his own personal blog to tell Israelis of his campaign overseas to isolate Iran. "During my recent visits to Britain, France , and the US, I continued in my efforts to draw international and American attention to the danger posed by Iran's nuclear arms program," Netanyahu wrote.
"I found an attentive ear among both Republican and Democratic leaders, who recognize the real threat of an Iran armed with nuclear weapons," he added.
Talkbacks to Netanyahu's post were supportive. "Bibi the king," wrote one supporter, "continue this way. We need you in power before it really is too late. The time has come for a massive demonstration against Olmert and his government."
Beilin's peace site
On the other side of the political spectrum, Meretz Chairman Yossi Beilin has also launched his own website, where he hailed the unofficial 2003 Geneva initiative, signed by a number of Israeli and Palestinian politicians. "In Geneva, we revealed the biggest secret in the Middle East: Peace between Israelis and Palestinians is feasible," Beilin declared on his website.
It seems, however, that a long time has passed since Beilin's website has been updated, a commonplace characteristic among Israeli political sites, according to Professor Gabi Weimann of Haifa University, who specializes in communications.
"In comparison to the US, politicians in Israel still don't realize the full potential of internet," Wiemann told Ynetnews.
"According to our surveys conducted over the past five elections, the internet was largely unused. There hasn't been much investment in it, and web sites are frozen. There is still a major effort, anachronistic in my view, to place very expensive TV ads, although these are receiving less and less viewers," Weimann added.
Despite the slow start, Israel will soon catch on to the political internet revolution, Weimann said "Demographically, society is getting younger. Politicians can't ignore the internet – politics, news, and entertainment already spring from the web. The US system will eventually influence us," he said. Weimann also said it was likely that some talkbacks to online articles were "paid for."
"From personal experience, I saw talkbacks to some of my articles which were longer than my own article. Clearly, they were formulated in advance," he said.
Dr. Tamir Shefer, of the Department of Communications at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told Ynetnews that the age of internet politics has already arrived in Israel.
"In the recent 2006 elections, we saw a major rise of web political activity," he said. "Most political parties have active internet sites, and this is a big change," he added
"In recent months, Knesset committee meetings have been broadcast live online, and the public can send questions to the Knesset Members sitting in meetings, which is a pretty significant development," Shefer said.
"The gap with the US will close," he added. "I don't know when politicians here will reach the level of Hilary Clinton's website, but we must keep in mind that running such a site demands a great deal of funding and personnel. Clearly, Israel is not doing badly in this field," Shefer said.
