Can Israel Win The War of Public Opinion?

Israel was born in war. In 1947,  the United Nations tried to broker a deal under Resolution 181 (II) which would created two separate states, one Israeli and the other Palestinian in the area where no formal state previously existed. Up to that point the area was only a geographical region which, until then, had been a protectorate of the British Empire which it had rightfully stolen from the Ottoman Empire after WWI.

Under the terms of the plan Israel would have received 14,500 square kilometers  (which is about 10,000 square miles), the equivalent of about 52% of the land while the Palestinians would have 46% of the land amounting to 11,100 square kilometers which would be about 9890 square miles. The key cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem would become international zones under the administration of the United Nations. The plan also stipulated that British Colonial Troops would undertake a gradual withdrawal to be completed no later than August 28, 1948.

The plan sought to mitigate two competing ideologies, that of Palestinian nationalism and that of Zionism, which had come to the forefront following the end of WWII and the Holocaust. It's noteworthy that while various Zionist organizations agreed to work with the United Nation's Special Committee on Palestine (UNSOP), no one from Palestine's leadership attended. This was essentially at the behest of the Arab League, which strongly opposed any large scale Jewish settlements in the region and wasn't too fond of Jews in general being there.

What was the Arab League? The Arab League was formed in the aftermath of WWII on March 22, 1945. It was to serve as the core structure to a Pan-Arab nationalist movement. It comprised the nations of Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and North Yemen, all of which had previously belonged to the Ottoman Empire until the end of WWI when they were dutifully "acquired" and divided up by France and Great Britain under the Sykes-Picot Plan without regard to religious sects, ethnic groups, or traditional borders. which was signed on May 16, 1916.   

It's worth noting that with the exception of Syria these nations had, until recently, been British colonial protectorates. Syria had fallen under French Administration. It also should be noted that many  supported Nazi Germany during the war. Thousands joined the SS to create eight predominately Muslim SS units, including the famous 13th and 22nd Waffen SS Mountain Divisions and also several high ranking former Nazis served as advisors or security consultants for many of these countries.

Fast forward to 1948, the Arab League rejected the plan for a two state solution nominally on behalf of the Palestinians. The result was an all out war just hours after Israel declared its nationhood. Since then Israel has been a state of almost continuous war and asymmetrical war by groups like the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Black September, terrorist hijackings and bombings, and near constant missile attacks from Hamas and Hezbollah (both puppets of Iran).

Thus far, Israel has been successful in repelling these attacks, although it's come close to losing, and that would mean total and complete annihilation of Israel (the only democracy in the Middle East) and its people. The attack on October 7, 2023 was just another in a long line of unprovoked attacks, this time it was over 1400 men, women, and children enjoying a concert.

Whether Hamas, a international recognized terrorist organization, had the "right" to attack Israelis as part of their ongoing terrorist agenda to "liberate"  a mythical Palestinian homeland from Israel, it did not have the legal or moral right to murder, rape, burn alive, and kidnap innocent civilians.  If Hams considers itself "at war" as claimed, then it should conduct itself accordingly. However, it doesn't. it hides behind the innocent and vulnerable.

But nevertheless, it seems that Hamas and those behind it have learned a very valuable lesson which others have ignored---that of mixing social media and propaganda. They have launched one of the most successful "PR" campaigns in recent history. They have seriously threatened support for Israel which in the past was seen as unshakeable, especially here in the United States.  Support for Israel outside the U.S. is also drawing heavy fire from governments (many whom have been ardent supporters of Israel) and building pressure from their citizens.

We commonly see large groups of mostly college age individuals protesting on campus, in the streets and on highways, as well as massing anywhere people tend to gather. I guess is this their response to my generations anti-Vietnam war protests. The biggest difference is that these individuals don't seem to know much about the history of the region (especially recent) and they are extremely intolerant of opposing opinions to the point of harassment, shouting them down, destruction of property, and openly assaulting anyone who disagrees with them. Their solution appears to be "accept my opinion only".  

An amusing aside is that along with this, we find large numbers of gays, "trans" individuals and other members of the LGBQT community openly supporting Hamas. Apparently they don't realize that homosexuality in any form is a sin and violates the Koran. The punishment is death by stoning but just as often by being throw off of buildings followed by stoning. No reasoning. No exceptions. Just death.

Here in the U.S., despite or perhaps because of the protests, public opinion on our support for Israel seems to be shaky but intact. According to a recent poll by the Associated Press- NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, President Biden's handling of the situation over Gaza is  potentially in serious trouble.  

The poll indicates that about 50% of Democrats approve of Biden's handling of the situation thus far. However, a substantial 46% do not. 44% of Democrats polled said that Israel was getting too much support from the U.S while 45% thinks it's about right with just 9% wanting to see more from Biden.

The same poll also stated that current support for the Palestinians (which by extrapolation would include Hamas too) was too little by 44% compared to 37% saying it's just right and 15% saying it's already too much.

Of the 46% who disapprove of Biden's handing of the Gaza issue, a whopping 65% think that Israel is getting too much support. 58% also that the Palestinians aren't getting near enough support. Those Democrats who approve of Biden's actions thus far, 68% said that Israel was getting about the right amount of support while 51% say the same thing about the Palestinians.

Independents, the nation's largest voting bloc, overwhelming disapprove of Israel's ongoing war against Hamas by 60%. Only 29% approve and 11% had no opinion. The poll asked Democrats, the second largest voting bloc, the same question, whether they supported Israel's military actions in Gaza and found that 75% do not. Only 18% did with the balance having no comment.

While not surprising, the majority of Democrats under age 45 (65%)  and 58% of non-whites Democrats disapprove of Biden's handling of the war and his support for Israel. The same group blames Israel for the war by 56%.  Democrats over age 45% (65%) and white Democrats (62%) support Biden's efforts in the Middle East. This group thinks that Hamas is responsible for the situation by 76%.

According to a March 27, Gallup Poll, the majority of Americans--55%--disapprove of Israel's response to the Hamas attack. Only 36% approve. When looking at party, Republicans still support Israel's actions by 64% with 30% disapproving. It should be pointed out that while former President Donald Trump has been a keen supporter of Israel and a friend of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, that may be changing.

The former President stated in an interview with Hugh Hewett, a conservative talk radio host, that Netanyahu has made some serious mistakes in the handling of the war, including the unintentional bombing of a Palestinian refugee camp which was allegedly harboring members of Hamas. The bombing killed or wounded dozens of civilians.

It should be pointed out that since exact figures are unavailable or unreliable, it's currently estimated that over 10,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed thus far and thousands more maimed or injured. The food situation has reached  a humanitarian crisis point bordering on what many governments are calling a potential "genocide".

However, Hamas shares much of the blame due to their routine use of civilians as shields (they commonly use schools, hospitals, mosques, and private homes as staging positions for their missile attacks) and  block or hijack shipments of food, water, medical supplies and other forms of aid. Any Israeli response to these attacks is nearly always a automatic PR coup for Hamas. 

Trump also pointed out the obvious, namely that Israel is "losing the PR war.  They're losing it big". Perhaps this isn't such a big surprise since many of Trump's diehard supporters oppose Israel's ongoing response to the war and in a not too surprising partisan response, have been chanting "Genocide Joe" at pro-Biden rallies.

It appears the one of the key issues which will likely affect the outcome of the November Presidential Election will come down to what Biden does next regarding Israel. A large minority of his party oppose his current level of support for the Israelis as does the largest voting bloc, the Independents.  While a majority of Republicans continue their backing of Israel, it appears that many "MAGA" Republicans don't.

The best outcome for both presidential candidates is for Prime Minister Netanyahu bringing this war to quick end before November, even if that means not" wiping out Hamas" as he promised the Israeli people. At the same time, Netanyahu needs to seriously step up his PR game before not just Americans turn against Israel, but so does the rest of the world.

 

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PBS News: Nearly half of Democrats disapprove of Biden's response to the Israel-Hamas War poll says

Majority in U.S. Now Disapprove of Israeli Action in Gaza

A century on: Why the Arabs resent Sykes-Picot

United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine

Trump used to brag about his support for Israel. Now his criticisms are growing sharper

Too Big To Fail? How Big Business Supplanted the American Voter

We've often talked about the rise of corporatocracy and the fall of our Republic. We have transformed from representative democracy, responsible to the citizens of this country, into one in which government, led by an elite oligarchy, serves the needs and interests of Big Business.

Members of Congress are nowadays dependent on corporations to finance their elections, to underwrite both political parties (as of the 2022, Big Business had given both parties $8.9 billion dollars with roughly 45% going to Democrats and 55% going to the GOP), and not only write  legislation, but to review existing bills and make "recommendations" on which ones to vote "yay" on and which ones to say "nay"on.

Perhaps that's not surprising when you consider that just over 50% of  Congressional members or individuals on their staff go on to become lobbyists, political consultants or advisors. They typically bring the expertise, connections, and, of course, the cash.  

In 2022, corporate lobbyists "donated" $4.1 billion dollars to members of Congress, and as of the first quarter of 2023, they had already given over $1 billion dollars.  As an aside, did you know that there are approximately 20 registered lobbyists for every member of Congress? Given that they can make over five times what they made in government, it's not a bad gig.  

Thanks to a politically naive (some would say incompetent) Supreme Court and pressure from Wall Street and Congress, the Citizens United ruling in 2010 by a 5 to 4 margin all but ensured that Big Business would dominate politics henceforth. It declared that corporations, while nothing more than legal fictions, were suddenly granted "personhood" and entitled to all the rights you and I have...with one essential exception.

The ruling declared that money (somehow magically it seems) was now the equivalent of free speech! Thus if you have $20 dollars and I have $100, under the Supreme Court's decision, my opinion is more important or valuable than yours. However, while mere mortals remained capped as to how much they can donate to political campaigns, these legal fictions were free to give what they want.

Obviously there's no way ordinary citizens can compete financially to what Big Business can give. Even unions are outspent more than $5 to $1. The result is that the 2010 Citizens United blunder removed you and I from politics. It made running for high office basically a sport for millionaires.

Coupled with partisan gerrymandering, the absence of term limits, unequal ballot access, lack of voter referendums, and unfair voter access, not to mention the control of a biased media by just five big corporations and "shadow blocking" online,  we're left on the sidelines as spectators watching a rigged horse race using a biased handicapping form  and leaving us with the illusion of having a chance to cash a winning ticket.

How bad is it? Pretty bad. Congress has made it clear on numerous occasions that it doesn't care one wit about what we think. Remember the bank bailouts of 2007/08? Despite the public's loud and very vocal disapproval, Congress did it anyway at a cost of $700 billion dollars of our money, with most going for executive incentivizes, bonuses, and vacations.

 In 2020, at the outset of the COVID pandemic, Congress spent $25 billion of our tax dollars to bailout the airline industry. Instead of using the money to save jobs, it was used for executive bonuses and salaries, not to mention tax breaks, low interest/forgiven loans, and other perks Congress gives its "business partners"   

Congress routinely uses our tax dollars for projects aimed to make them or their corporate friends millions (if not billions) in profits without either party having any fear of voter repercussions.   Despite having decades long disapproval ratings below 20%, Congress still has a reelection rate of 98%! That's higher than the reelection rate of the old Soviet Union's Politburo. We have to look to countries like North Korea or China to see similar reelection percentages.

In case you're wondering by the way, the Soviet Era Politburo had an average turnover rate of about 35% compared to our 2% and no member could serve more than three terms. Here, members of Congress can serve indefinitely. Also, the average age of a member of the Politburo was about 40. The average age of a member of Congress in 2023 is 46, down from a previous 52 years of age. And to think that we used to make fun of the Politburo as a "bunch of tired old men"! 

All this research led me to a informative and entertaining video by a guy who goes by the name of "Mr. Beat" (his real name is Matt Alan Beat. He's a high school history teacher, podcaster, video producer, and musician living in Kansas). Mr. Beat publishes quite a catalog of videos covering a variety of topics, although most appear to be historical or political (non-partisan).

This one, "The One Political Issue That Unites All of Us" is one I especially recommend. The video is 15:52 minutes long. As I said, it's informative as well as entertaining with some rather wry sense of humor. I'm providing a link below and urge you to check it out. I've also included some other links about our political situation that I think you'll find interesting.

 

Video: The One Political Issue That Unites Allof Us

If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read anotheropinionblog.com. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you!

 

Open Secrets: Federal lobbying spending reaches $4.1 billionin 2022---the highest since 2010

Open Secrets: Federal lobbyist spending tops $1 billion infirst quarter of 2023

Timeline: Notable government bailout, relief programs in U.S. history

CNNMoney.com's bailout tracker

Bailout Lists: Banks, Auto Companies, and More

Which Party Receives More Corporate Donations?