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How
to manipulate the US public into supporting Israel - a leaked document
exposes pro-Israel lobby www.inminds.co.uk
A leaked document prepared for the Wexner Foundataion by the public relations firm the Luntz Research Companies and the Israel Project reveals new Israeli propaganda strategy for the period following the war in Iraq. Les Wexner, the founder of the Wexner Foundation is well known for his zionist activities. His business, The Limited, Inc is already on the boyott Israel list of companies to boycott, see Boycott The Limited. The Luntz Research Companies has a history of working for Israels PR image. Luntz helped to craft former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's election campaign, and last summer joined with Democratic Party consultants Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and Stanley Greenberg to brief Israeli government spokespeople on how they could be more effective in swaying American public opinion. Then, in August, the group made the same pitch to American Jewish leaders, advising them to follow a communications strategy built around "Ten Commandments." The Israel Project is a pro-Israel lobby group founded in March of 2002 by political consultant Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi. The report, entitled "Wexner Analysis: Israeli Communications Priorities 2003" (which is available as a PDF for download below), features 11 key recommendations. Some are pure PR manipulation ("Find yourself a good female spokesperson. In all our testing, women are found to be more credible than men. And if the woman has children, that's even better."), but most reflect the group's conclusion that "the words, themes and messages on behalf of Israel must include and embrace the new reality of a post-Saddam world." The war in Iraq colors the entire report, but the primary focus of the messaging guide is the country's deposed and disappeared leader. "Saddam is your best defense, even if he's dead," reads the document's first communications recommendation. "For a year -- a SOLID YEAR -- you should be invoking the name of Saddam Hussein and how Israel was always behind American efforts to rid the world of this ruthless dictator and liberate their people. Saddam will remain a powerful symbol of terror to Americans for a long time to come." "This document is about language, so let me be blunt," the main body of the report begins. "'Saddam Hussein' are the two words that tie Israel to America and are most likely to deliver support in Congress. They also just happen to be two of the most hated words in the English language right now." People who believe that Saddam Hussein is old news "don't
understand how to integrate and leverage history and communication
for the benefit of Israel," the report declares. "The
day we allow Saddam to take his eventual place in the trash heap
of history is the day we loose our strongest weapon in the linguistic
defense of Israel." "It DOES NOT HELP when you compliment President Bush. When you want to identify with and align yourself with America, just say it. Don't use George Bush as a synonym for the United States. Even with the destruction of the Hussein regime and all the positive reactions from the Iraqi people, there still remains about 20% of America that opposes the Iraqi war, and they are overwhelmingly Democrat. That leaves about half the Democrats who support the war even if they don't support George Bush. You antagonize the latter half unnecessarily every time you compliment the President. Don't do it." The document does however admit that in arguing for Israel's policies,
the illegal "settlements are our Achilles heel," for which
there is no good defense. The document's authors note that their recommendations are based on two "dial test" sessions held for the Wexner Foundation, in which subjects are asked to rate language using a simple dial mechanism, held in Chicago and Los Angeles during the first ten days of the Iraq war. The leaked report first appeared on the Electronic Intifada [4]
(25th April). References: 1. The report "Wexner Analysis: Israeli Communications
Priorities 2003" 2. A Roadmap of Spin, http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2003/19/we_401_01.html 3. Wexner Analysis: Israeli Communication Priorities
2003, 4. Leaked document exposes pro-Israel lobby's manipulation
of US public 5. Pro-Israel propaganda campaign rolls over CNN,
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