Israel to start international campaign on Qassams

Escalating violence in the Gaza strip and the recent Qassam barrage on Sderot and the Western Negev have raised, again, the call for the Israeli government to take action to stop the rocket launchings.

Can Israel use these latest events to win over public opinion? Is Israel doing enough to justify its future actions? Before even one tank starts its engine, many believe Israel should first hone its spokesmanship skills.  

Zvi Mazel, former Israeli ambassador to Egypt and Sweden, agrees. Israel is at war, he said Wednesday, "and no one seems to utilize it. You don't see anyone from the foreign ministry explaining the events, and the European press hardly covers it. There are simply not enough fatalities."

Mazel thinks Israel should come out with their verbal guns blazing. "We have to launch a campaign about the Qassam situation. We have to wake Europe up to the battle we have on our hands.

Spoon-feeding Europe

"We have to appeal to the UN, to the Red Cross, to all those global organization scrutinizing us and make them see what's going on." he said. "We have to make the world see Hamas for exactly what it is."

Israeli spokesmanship is invisible, probably because the country is a democracy, said Mazel.  "That's exactly where we're going wrong. Just because the world knows we are one, doesn't mean we shouldn't remind them of that all the time.

"Europe is swamped with all kinds of information, and if we won't go and spoon-feed them with what we need them to know, be it through the TV, the internet or the print media, people simply won't know what's going on."

Dr Alon Liel, former Director General of the foreign ministry thinks Israel can definitely win over global public opinion, if it just shows the world the hardships of Israelis under the Qassam threat.

"That just may be the only thing that generates sympathy for us," he said. On the other hand, Liel doesn't believe the raging conflicts in Gaza should be overly emphasized.

"It's very easy to say we have no one to negotiate with because things are a mess over there, but we have to remember the world holds us responsible for that mess," he said. "The international community is very unlikely to condone an Israeli ground incursion in Gaza," he added. "That's a lost cause."

Rallying support

The Israeli Foreign Ministry ordered Israeli ambassadors Wednesday to meet with representatives from their respective governments, and to try and rally as much support as they can in case of an Israeli incursion in Gaza.  

"The ambassadors have been instructed to say Israel expects the international community's support should it need to send its troops into Gaza," officials in the foreign ministry told Ynet Wednesday.

"They were asked to explain the situation, and emphasize that we are not interfering in an interior Palestinian matter, but are acting out of the pure necessity to protect Israeli citizens."

Lilach Shoval contributed to this piece