AL QUDS: “I cannot enter into this so long as this criminal is on your screen,” a Hamas spokesman calmly told Arabic satellite channel Al Jazeera. He had just realised he was sharing a live broadcast with an Israeli army spokesman.
In fluent Arabic, Major Eitan Arusy followed up as though nothing had happened, denying Hamas accusations that Israel was behind a deadly blast in the Gaza Strip.
“They are always telling all sorts of lies,” he said.
The exchange on live television between the army and militant group Hamas was a first for Israel, even if the two men never spoke directly.
Putting forward its message on Arabic media has become increasingly important for Israel since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000.
Efforts have been stepped up further following a withdrawal from the occupied Gaza Strip that Israel hopes will encourage better relations with the Arab world and end old animosities over Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
Israeli faces tend not to get a favourable reception on Arab television. Israel’s aim is to take its viewpoint into living rooms in the Arab world, even to countries technically still at war and people who oppose the existence of the Jewish state.
“This is a way to show we are here, that Israel is more than just conflict with the Palestinians and not all Israelis are monsters with horns on their heads,” said Amira Oron, the Foreign Ministry’s first Arabic spokeswoman.
“Still, we have our security concerns. This is what we are trying to show.”
Qatar-based Al Jazeera was one of the first networks to put Israelis on air as part of an editorial policy of allowing opposing opinions since it started broadcasting in 1996.
Though condemned by many Arab governments for hard-hitting news and criticised by some Westerners who say it is anti-United States and anti-Israel, Al Jazeera’s popularity has soared. It has also given Israel a hearing it never previously had in the region.
Other Arabic networks have followed. Editor-in-Chief Ahmed Sheikh said Al Jazeera did not give anyone a “platform for propaganda”.
Seeing an Israeli speaking Arabic on television is far from being enough to overcome Arab anger at the Jewish state, abhorred for its tough handling of the Palestinian uprising, some analysts say.
“If he is wearing a military uniform and is justifying, in however nice a tone, settlement expansion and assassinations, I don’t see how that will serve Israel’s cause,” said Jordan-based Mouin Rabbani of the International Crisis Group think tank.
“Often, it comes across as exceptionally brazen,” he said.
Many Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank said they did not believe Israelis who appeared on Arabic channels. However, some wanted to hear the Israeli point of view.
“We are Palestinian and we have to know what they are up to. But we can’t trust them,” said Safa Shalaldi, a business management student.
Hamzi Shabani, an unemployed 20-year-old from Al Khalil, said: “Even on television, they look scary.”
Israeli spokesmen have typically not joined televised debates on Arabic media, preferring more controlled interviews.
However, confrontations do occur. Satellite network Al Arabiya pulled an Israeli off air after a Lebanese guest protested against appearing with a “Zionist official”.
The incident prompted Israel’s Foreign Ministry to boycott the station, but not for long.
Israel is keen to capitalise on relative goodwill in the region after ending its 38-year military rule over Gaza, removing settlers for the first time from land where Palestinians seek statehood. Palestinians also want the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Rifts with foes such as Syria show few signs of healing. The president of non-Arab Iran, another old enemy, said last month Israel should be “wiped off the map”, although Tehran played down the comments after international condemnation.
Elsewhere, Pakistan agreed to accept Israeli aid for the first time as part of international relief after its devastating earthquake last month.—Reuters
