Why politics and public diplomacy shouldn’t mix - opinion

Fateful elections are going on right now in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Iran that will each have a significant impact on the future of Israel.

There are Israel advocates with strong opinions, favoring one candidate or the other in each of them, that they do not hesitate to express publicly and loudly.

And they are all wrong.

Public diplomacy for Israel is hard enough already without poisoning it with politics. Making the case for the Jewish state effectively can be achieved much better if you keep your political opinions to yourself.

That is true when it comes to internal Israeli politics and with the races taking place around the world.

One of my accomplishments that I am most proud of is that I covered politics for this newspaper for 24 years and left with no one knowing if I supported one party or another. At my going away party at the Knesset, MKs from several parties spoke.

Even my youngest daughter, who accompanied me to the polling station seven times before she turned six, has absolutely no idea what parties’ slips she put in the envelopes. I didn’t let her come with me to the municipal vote in February because she could already read and understand.

I remain militantly apolitical now at HonestReporting, not only because it is a 501c3 charity prohibited by law from engaging in politics but also because it leads the fight for Israel on the media battlefield, not one side or another inside the country. Identifying with the Right, Left, or Center would not help our goal of educating beyond the choir.

Our media watchdog tracks its verified followers who frequently share and engage with our work, and the results are shocking. On Instagram alone, where we get more than 75% of our engagement, we have an incredibly diverse set of followers, with huge audiences numbering in the six and seven figures well outside of the Jewish/pro-Israel bubble that includes actors, music executives, tattoo artists, motorcycle enthusiasts, jewelry designers, and fashion, fitness, and beauty influencers.

By being nonpartisan, we are able to reach across the divide and impact a much larger audience.

United in Israel Advocacy

DURING THE judicial reform protests, there was tremendous pressure to stop advocating for Israel as a whole and take a side. Some top Israel advocates did take sides before our enemies unfortunately reminded us on Oct. 7 that we do not have the luxury to fight each other.

In the weeks after that, Israel advocacy was easier because we briefly spoke in one voice with one clear narrative. Those days are long gone, now that regular political protests have returned with views for and against the current government.

There will eventually be another election – apparently in the year ahead. My advice for activists with large platforms who want to help Israel is that after you exercise your democratic right to vote, you don’t have to exercise your right to remain silent, but keep in mind that defending Israel’s image internationally must come before adhering to party loyalty.

I know it’s not easy to guard your tongue. I’ve been told it’s even anti-Jewish.

Comedians Benji Lovitt and Joel Chasnoff wrote in their excellent book Israel 201 that the difference between Independence Day and Election Day is that the former has a day of mourning the day before, while with the latter, grieving and kvetching start the day after.

When it comes to divisive elections abroad, if you’re identified as an Israel advocate, keeping your opinions to yourself is even more important. This is truer than ever now, when America is at the height of its hyperpolarization.

WHENEVER I speak at American colleges, I make sure my talks are co-sponsored by campus Democrats and Republicans. When I ask the leaders of the organizations how long ago they last worked together on a joint program, the answer tends to be last Israeli Independence Day because Israel is one of the only issues they can unite on.

Israel desperately needs that bipartisan relationship to continue, no matter who is at the helm in the White House and who controls each of the two houses of Congress. When engaging in politics, don’t use Israel as your political football. Ensure that you are protecting Israel, not sacrificing the frying pan for the fire.

Regardless of where you stand on the American political map, the good news from this week’s debate was that both candidates competed over who is more pro-Israel. We have to do what we can to keep it that way in this and future races by educating young voters that Israel and America have shared values.

Young Democrats need to know that being progressive means being pro-Israel. Young Republicans must understand that being conservative means conserving the US-Israel relationship and keeping Israel strong.

That is also true for young voters across the political spectrum who voted Thursday in the UK, and others who will cast ballots in France’s run-off race on Sunday.

As for Iran, the candidates called “hardline” and “moderate” by the media in Friday’s run-off both want Israel wiped off the map – and the ayatollah, who wants every Jew dead, will remain in charge, so there is no point in intervening there, either.

If anything, staying out of politics will help Israel advocates build their case internationally that the world should unite to prevent the nuclearization of Iran, which could pose an existential threat to the Jewish state.

WHEN INTERNATIONAL politicians pose a threat to Jews based on their rhetoric or policies – not party affiliation – and the media plays along, HonestReporting does its duty and holds the press accountable.

It happened years ago with Jeremy Corbyn in Britain and in last week’s primary in New York’s 16th district. Incumbent congressman Jamaal Bowman consistently took extreme positions that harmed Israel and made a point of always voting against the Jewish state.

He turned off voters by repeatedly calling Israel an “apartheid state,” its Gaza campaign “genocide,” and reports of Hamas’s murders of children and raping of women on Oct. 7 “propaganda and lies.” But The New York Times chose the antisemitic narrative for his electoral defeat, blaming it on the “flood of pro-Israel money.”

We hope the coverage will be more accurate when fellow Squad member and Israel hater Cori Bush faces a closer race on August 6 in Missouri. Bush has accused Israel of conducting an “ethnic cleansing campaign” in Gaza and was one of nine House Democrats who opposed a resolution condemning Hamas for its attacks.

While HonestReporting has focused on mainstream media for 23 years, social media is where much of the world gets its news nowadays, and Squad members are much more influential there than the top American news sites.

In the months leading up to Oct. 7, our media monitoring organization had been building a successful social media brand. The strategy was to reach the younger demographics who consume news almost exclusively via social media. We were reaching roughly four million people each month.

Because our profile had risen, people knew to trust our voice. And so in October and November alone, we reached almost 79 million people. Now that interest in the war isn’t always on the top of everyone’s mind, we continue to reach roughly seven million people each month, with 40% under the age of 35, which could not have happened if we were political.

While there is a role for political advocacy, for those of us trying to reach the unengaged next generation, staying above the fray makes your message more trustworthy. If you want to be the most effective Israel advocate, politics and public diplomacy shouldn’t mix.

The writer is the executive director and executive editor of the pro-Israel media watchdog HonestReporting. He served as chief political correspondent and analyst of The Jerusalem Post for 24 years.