Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, deserves kudos for taking on the Sisyphean task of refuting pernicious falsehoods about the Jewish state. The result of his and his team’s research is a booklet called Manufacturing a Modern Blood Libel: Genocide, Starvation and the Language of Dehumanization, which he introduced in a May 28 video on social media.
Explaining the impetus for the project, he describes the way in which insidious accusations against Israel began to spread around the world in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, “while families still searched for their loved-ones on blood-stained streets and before any military ground operation had begun.”
It’s time, he says in the clip, to “set the record straight,” pointing to recent “fictitious claims that Israel trains dogs to rape prisoners,” published in The New York Times opinion section. Such outrageous assertions, he adds, “are no different than [those] of the Middle Ages—that Jews use blood in their food and poison wells.”
He concludes by reminding viewers that “hateful lies spread faster than truth,” urging the public to download and read the free booklet, in order to “understand the facts, restore meaning to words and [restore] dignity to the State of Israel and the Jewish people.”
The timing of the compendium’s release couldn’t be more auspicious, as it coincided with the decision by the United Nations to add Israel, alongside Hamas, to a blacklist of entities guilty of conflict-related sexual violence. This is despite the United Nations having been furnished with ample evidence that while Hamas used sexual assault as a tool of war in Gaza, Israel did no such thing.
Thankfully, the latest report—this one by the Civil Commission on Oct. 7th Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children, titled “Silenced No More; Sexual Terror Unveiled”—is available with the pamphlet offered by Leiter and his embassy staff. But, of course, it’s of no interest to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres or his antisemitic ilk.
Calling Guterres’s “political” move a “moral disgrace,” Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon declared a freezing of all relations with the secretary-general’s office. Good for Danon.
The question is whether it will make any difference in the larger scheme of things. The same can be asked about Leiter’s important endeavor.
Which brings us to the age-old and tiresome refrain about Israel’s “poor public diplomacy.” Indeed, whenever the world attacks the Jewish state, the response by concerned Israelis and pro-Zionist voices in the Diaspora is to blame a lack of sufficient hasbara. The anti-Israel chorus, at home and abroad, has a different view: that the problem isn’t one of P.R., but rather of evil policies.
Both attitudes are wrong, certainly the latter. The former, at least, contains a plea for us to do better at making our case. The trouble is that the outcry involves finding fault with the government for not conveying a sound, swift message.
There’s a hoot. One need only observe the ideological splits within the country to realize that exposure to the same information doesn’t lead to uniformity of thought or agreement on courses of action.
Furthermore, though there’s endless proof that private enterprises get things done more cheaply and efficiently than state-run ones, Israelis still have trouble letting go of the illusory comfort of the nanny state on the one hand, and the oft-unreasonable tantrums against it on the other.
Meanwhile, there have been very successful campaigns by pro-Israel NGOs and independent influencers, as well as a plethora of articles and podcasts by brilliant pundits who’ve been working tirelessly to defend the Jews and the Jewish state against vilification.
But let’s not kid ourselves about the effect of the above on the Israel-haters. They aren’t preoccupied with getting to the truth of the matter.
Nor do they allow themselves to be confused by facts. The above-mentioned New York Times travesty is a perfect example. Did Nicholas Kristof, the author of the piece averring that Israel trains dogs to sodomize Palestinians, have a change of heart when told by veterinarians or canine experts that this is physically impossible? Uh, no.
This brings us back to Leiter. A glance at the comments on his clip about the booklet illustrates that it’s impossible to combat willful ignorance through logic or data.
Here’s a sample of the remarks:
- “Israel’s government members support the assassination of moderate Jews like Israel’s PM Rabin and the mass murder of Christians and Muslims in the West Bank. This is a fact, not any libel. Shame on you for defending this.”
- “Your propaganda failed. The whole world sees what a violent and pedophilic and genocidal psychopathic entity the Jewish state is.”
- “The most vicious of lies being that we are told that you are our greatest ally and do not interfere in U.S. politics and culture.”
- “Christians were 50% of Palestine; now that the Israeli Jews have ethnically cleansed them, they are only 2%.”
- “Does [the booklet] mention IDF war crimes? Like this shocking video [below] of evil incarnate, where IDF forces waited for paramedics to arrive to kill them.”
This isn’t to say that the likes of Leiter shouldn’t waste their breath. On the contrary, it’s imperative to “sing to the choir.”
Those who grasp that Israel is a beacon, not a bully, must be equipped with the intellectual implements to counter enemy arguments. They also need reinforcement in the face of mendacious onslaughts.
Leiter’s welcome initiative provides just that.
