By Larry Gordon

Screen Shot 2014-07-29 at 10.56.53 AM This last Sunday it was wall to wall Bibi on all the news shows.  Over the previous few weeks it seemed that Israel’s Prime Minister had found several surrogate spokespeople that were doing a fairly nice job of stating Israel’s case to the media.  But then Sunday arrived and the rockets kept falling while the cease fires kept failing.  Bibi it appears decided to take things into his own hands.
Frankly I observed that he was not his usual chipper self on those weekend appearances.  Thankfully there were a few others who for a change were able to pick up the slack by representing the Israel position with articulation and intelligence under some rather hostile and harsh media conditions.  So let’s review and analyze what Israel needs strategically on the battlefield of the television screen as this war seems to be settling into our arm chairs and dens for the long run.

First, nothing is as real or brutal as the battlefield.  The cold blooded killers who are Hamas have brought the battle to the Israel heartland.  It is difficult and even unfathomable to think where we would be today without the success of the Iron Dome.  Unfortunately some of the Israeli spokespeople seem a little bit uncomfortable with the success of the anti-missile mechanism that has saved hundred and perhaps thousands of lives.  In an odd way they seem uptight with the lack of proportionality in the Iron Dome’s success.  When asked about it they hem and haw and try to utter some kind of disjointed explanation about the success of this brilliant American sponsored technology.

The good spokespeople have no problem with Israel’s success.  If people were honest with themselves they would be able to quickly put things in their proper context.  Israel is the good guy here.  Hamas and their Moslem supporters in Turkey and Qatar are the bad guys that need to be defeated and that is what this war is all about.

So in addition to the erudite and articulate Bibi, what are we dealing with here.  I don’t know who composed the line but when uttered by Mr. Netanayhu it put the capsulated the essence of the conflict in two pith and cogent sentences.  He explained that while Israel uses its missiles to protect its citizens, Hamas uses its citizens to protect its missiles.  That is a great statement that says it all.  The problem, believe it or not is that it is too good of a statement, too much to the point and on the mark.  It is almost poetic and is therefore dismissed with a wave of the hand or a shrug of the shoulders by world leaders and opinion makers.

One of the shining lights and refreshing personalities featured recently on Fox News was Defense Attorney Benjamin Brafman on the Sean Hannity Show.  He defended Israel’s right to self-defense which in and of itself is a subject that I believe those interviewed should just drop or ignore when asked about.  Being asked whether Israel has a right to defend itself is offensive and insulting and underserving of a response.  I asked Brafman his thought on the matter and he said:  “To me it is astonishing that Israel’s absolute right to defend itself from murderous rocket attacks needs to be repeated again and again and even when repeated, is not fully recognized by the media Europe or even the President of the United States. The right of Israel  to use deadly force against terrorist attacks is a fundamental right that every country in the world has but only Israel is ever criticized for doing so. This is raw Anti-Semitism in its ugliest form,”  More in this week’s 5TJT and at 5TJT.COM

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