| | 03 January, 2008
| | Contrary to Sharon's expectations, Israel's foreign media image deteriorated after disengagement | |
 | | Israeli soldiers attempt to evacuate settlers from the Gaza Strip during the disengagement. (Photo: Yossi Zamir/Flash 90) |
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A new study has found that Israel's image in the international media deteriorated following the disengagement from Gaza in 2005, despite expectations to the contrary.
Although Israel's leadership expressed an expectation that Israel's unilateral disengagement would improve Israel's image as an occupier and an oppressor, and would decrease demands by the international community for major territorial concessions to the Palestinians, it appears that the opposite is in fact the case.
The research, conducted by Dr. Tamir Sheafer and Itai Gabai from the Departments of Politics and Communications & Journalism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, found that in Britain and the United States, Israel was represented in a more negative light after the disengagement in comparison to the period that preceded it.
In the summer of 2005, Israel removed 9,000 settlers and hundreds of troops from the Gaza Strip and four isolated settlements in the West Bank. In the lead-up to the disengagement, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stated: ''In the wider view, the Disengagement Plan…improves our international standing and promotes the chance of peace in our region.''
However, the findings show that Israel's image in the American and British media improved only during the period of the disengagement itself, and decreased immediately after it to an even lower level than it was prior to the disengagement.
''We found that one of the main reasons for this phenomenon is that Israel continues to be viewed by the world as a conquering state,'' explains Sheafer. ''We also found that the demands from Israel to territorial concessions in the Territories not only were not lessened following the disengagement, but actually became stronger.''
Sheafer and Gabai conducted the research using content data from thousands of on-line articles that appeared in the British and American media, declarations of American and British leaders, ministers and politicians on the subject of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel was not the only player, however, whose image deteriorated. The study points out that the Palestinian Authority was also unsuccessful in improving its image in the international media through the Palestinian elections. ''Although the Palestinian Authority tried to market the elections of January 2006 as positive and democratic, the elections were ultimately portrayed in a negative light in the foreign media due to their strengthening of Hamas,'' explains Sheafer.
The findings also found a high correlation between the US government and the US media. The same is true for the British government and British media – thereby demonstrating the significant influence these governments have over their local media.
The research was presented at a conference of the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations.
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Downloadable File: Disengagement.doc |
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