About bad PR and not voting for Netanyahu…
In this week’s Torah portion, today’s aliyah, Hashem threatens to destroy the Children of Israel after the tragedy of the Spies. To save the People, Moshe Rabbeinu immediately replies, “The nations who have heard of Your reputation will say as follows, Since God was unable to bring this nation to the land that He swore to them, He slaughtered them in the desert.” (Numbers 14:15-16)
As Jews, we are concerned about reputation, about what other people think of us.
The Ethics of the Fathers tells us, “Rabbi Shimon used to say: There are three crowns–the crown of the Torah, the crown of the priesthood, and the crown of kingship, but the crown of a good name surpasses them all.” It also tells us: “Rabbi Chanina the son of Dosa would say…. One who is pleasing to his fellow men, is pleasing to God. But one who is not pleasing to his fellow men, is not pleasing to God.”
Lehavdil, President Trump reportedly told Prime Minister Netanyahu last night, “Everyone hates you now. Everyone hates Israel”.
World Jewish Congress President, Ronald Lauder, said yesterday, “But as good as (Israel) is militarily, that’s how bad it is on PR, and it’s losing the information war in the age of media-driven politics. Everyone has a computer in their pocket with the most vicious smears that will spread around the world and circulate instantly. Israel cannot afford to ignore its public relations. No country can survive without public relations. For some reason, Israel is blind to this. Israel can’t afford to ignore it any longer. It can’t afford to isolate itself even further. From this day forward, Israel must devote much of its resources into this battle. When Israel is hit with lies, Israel should hit back twice as hard. Its response should be furious. It should counterattack every single hour of every single day.”
For those among us who attribute religious significance to the State of Israel, reishit tzemichat geulateinu, we should be concerned not just or even for our own sake, but as per Moshe Rabbeinu, about the reputation of Hashem and His Torah.
This is not new. It has been said, time and again, for decades. Here’s a report from 2002, from the Jerusalem Centre for Security and Foreign Affairs, entitled “Why are Israel’s Public Relations so Poor?”
There are many reasons not to vote for Prime Minister Netanyahu in the coming elections. In my mind this is among the most serious – he’s been at the helm for so long, and what should have been the event that enabled Israel to regain worldwide sympathy, after so many of our innocents were cruelly butchered, may their memories be a blessing, instead led to a historic collapse of unprecedented proportion.
What I want to see is a sign that Israel understands the problem it faces, and I do not see it. In fact, it gets worse, as the Prime Minister gives more oxygen to his noxious coalition partners who only do damage for the reputation of Israel and the Jewish people in the eyes of the world.
To paraphrase the prayer that Rashi attributed to Moshe Rabbeinu as he gave Joshua his name change, “may Hashem save us from the disaster of Israel’s PR”.
