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Books
Weapons of mass media
Yoram Peri's new book is a wake-up call to Israel
and other liberal democracies fighting wars By Matan Dansker
TOWARDS THE end of Operation
Protective Edge, I and 12 of my soldiers were
stuck for nine days in a small house in Gaza.
We had heard media reports of an imminent
ceasefire and yearned for home. A new soldier
brought us supplies and, thinking it would
boost our morale, shared a recent poll from
a news website that 80% of Israelis favored
continuing the war against Hamas. But there
was a disconnect between the mood of the
public and us soldiers on the ground. The
spirit of soldiers can have a direct influence
on the capability of an army to fight.
This is just one personal example of how
21st century media have the capacity to impact
the way we perceive and conduct wars.
Yoram Peri’s new book, “Mediatizing Wars:
Power, Paradox and Israel's Strategic Dilemma,”
which is currently available only in Hebrew,
examines the strategic challenges that
Israel and other liberal democracies face as a
result of what he calls the “mediatization” of
war zones. “Mediatization” is a term used in
communication theory to describe the process
in which society is shaped by the media.
Peri, a senior researcher at INSS, presents
a fascinating historical analysis of a subject
he has thoroughly researched and analyzed.
He differentiates between two kinds of media.
One is classic journalism that reports
facts and offers analysis. The other is "mediatizing,"
which perceives the press as an
active player in the political and strategic decision-making
process.
In the past, media played the role of updating
the public about what was happening
on the battlefield. They were there to report,
interpret and analyze a government's goals.
Now the equation has changed. Today, according
to Peri, government actions are directly
influenced by the messages, state of
mind, and perspective conveyed by the media.
The 24/7 news broadcasts and the competition
between television, radio and Internet
news sites, are not in sync with the slower
pace of war.
It is a well-known phenomenon that
pictures and videos of the battlefield can
INSS
The cover of Yoram Peri’s new
book in Hebrew
shape the way wars are remembered. They
are the tools that governments use to define
and sharpen their message to the public. The
raising of the flag at Iojima or the Ink Flag in
Eilat during Israel’s War of Independence are
just two examples of a government declaring
victory and the media reporting it. Today,
however, the photograph often stands on its
own, becoming the goal itself. The creates
a situation in which the media’s point of
view or portrayal of the battle can have a
significant influence how the war is actually
conducted. The “picture” that captures the
situation becomes the mission, which can
determine the outcome of the war itself.
The 2006 war between Israel and
Hezbollah, known as the Second Lebanon
War, is where the author pinpoints the
change between "media" and "mediazation"
in this region. Israel was unprepared for its
soldiers being equipped with cellphones and
cameras. These soldiers sent uncensored, and
often gruesome, pictures from the battlefield,
harming public morale, while Hezbollah
carefully controlled its messages to its own
audience as well as to the international
community, presenting pictures of Lebanese
citizens being bombed by Israel’s mighty
military on social media. This had a direct
negative effect on the war itself.
One of the most disturbing examples Peri
cites is an incident that occurred in the deadliest
confrontation of the Second Lebanon
War, now known as the Battle of Bint Jbeil.
A direct order was given by the IDF for its
troops to capture a house, raise an Israeli flag
on top of it and photograph it for PR purposes.
Rather than the picture becoming the
outcome of the conquest, it became the goal
of the mission itself. This set a precedent in
which soldiers' lives were risked in an operation
whose purpose is to advance a media
need as opposed to a strategic need.
The book serves as a wake-up call to readers,
especially in Israel. It shows how our mediatized
world (including both conventional
and social media) can give an unprecedented
advantage to those perceived to be the
underdog or the occupied. Israel's enemies
then have a head start in selling their narrative
to the world, and thereby influence the
war’s status by the smart use of media. They
understand that Israel’s Achilles’ Heel is the
complexity of the situation, which cannot always
be presented in a 20-second video clip
or soundbite.
We do not have to go as far back as 2006 to
realize that Israel’s great military power has
also become one of its biggest weaknesses.
This is what Peri calls Israel's “power paradox”
– the relationship between a powerful
country and its adversary presenting itself as
the underdog. This book, together with the recent
video of the Tamimi girls taunting IDF
soldiers in the West Bank and the constant
anti-Israel media blitzes by the Jewish state’s
enemies, such as Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas,
should trigger a rethinking process about
what must be done to counter “mediatized
wars” that pose a strategic dilemma not just
to the IDF and Israel, but to all liberal democracies
under attack.
Matan Dansker, a former IDF officer, is a
student at Jerusalem’s Shalem College
THE JERUSALEM REPORT FEBRUARY 5, 2018 31