"The war foiled attempts by Israel to integrate into the Arab world," Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said on May 21, 2021. This is proof that the war between Hamas and Israel was never just about Sheikh Jarrah and evictions in Jerusalem; rather it was primarily focused on scuppering coexistence and normalization of relations between Israel and Arab countries.
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Accordingly, the conflict was designed to embarrass Abraham Accords countries and to create controversy around normalizing relations, thereby undermining any upcoming peace deals. Even though Hamas obviously lost the military battle, it won the propaganda war, highlighting a desperate need for stronger public diplomacy efforts on the Israeli side and also from Abraham Accords countries, to avoid straining or even derailing the Accords in the face of public outrage.
The impact of Hamas' propaganda was evident among Israel's neighbours and even among Abraham Accords countries. For example, thousands gathered to protest Israeli airstrikes on Gaza during the fighting in Jordon. In Morocco and Sudan, two countries that recently began forming closer ties with Israel, there were widespread pro-Palestinian rallies and the Sudanese Israeli Friendship Association was dissolved by the Sudanese due to events in Gaza.
In the UAE and Bahrain, reactions varied. Some were affected emotionally by the scenes they saw in Gaza, so they shifted to a more neutral position and felt less friendly towards Israel. Others did not change their attitudes entirely, while those who were originally against the peace agreements took advantage of the incident and became more strident in their claims that a peace agreement was futile.
This influence of Hamas' propaganda was not only evident in the region, but also internationally. Haniyeh called for Hamas to strengthen its relationship with the international community so when he announced a divine victory, he actually meant a public relations propaganda victory, the success of which was evident on the streets of London and New York. It was the so-called progressive Democrats that strengthened his propaganda, for example Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar, all of whom are inextricably linked with Jew-hating propaganda. Also, the left-leaning bias of the mainstream media was pro-Hamas, for the sole reason that it sought to exploit the opportunity to censure the previous US administration's peace plan with the Gulf in particular.
In other words, left-leaning mainstream media are revealing their support hypocritically and exploitatively to radical Islamists as Hamas to pass their political agenda in fighting the conservatives whom they call capitalists or white supremacists.
Even though the Digital Diplomacy Unit at Israel's Foreign Ministry is fairly competent, it is not capable of combatting all the biased media in the region and internationally. For these reasons, Israel and Abraham Accords countries – mainly the Gulf – must develop extremely robust public diplomacy to face down all of these challenges. For example, there should be clear media policies agreed upon by the news agencies in Israel, the UAE and Bahrain that focus on cooperation not only during times of stability, but also on exchanging print, audio and video content in times of turmoil. Also, it is important to exchange political analysts and journalists between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain, so that they appear in each other's media, helping to get more balanced and inclusive views.
In practise, this means it is important to show in the media of these countries the losses and mistakes on both the Israeli and the Palestinian side. For instance, just as it is important to show how Israeli strikes caused death, injury and the destruction of buildings in Gaza, it is also vital to explain that what preceded these strikes was Hamas and Gaza terror groups launching projectile missiles at Israel. Hamas also hides its weapons and ammunition in schools and mosques, so when Israel strikes back civilians become human shields – a common strategy employed by militias to gain public sympathy.
In sum, in order to strengthen public diplomacy a strong and objective media, mainly broadcasting in Arabic and English in Israel and Abraham Accords countries, is needed to combat Hamas' propaganda and the biased media of Al Jazeera, the Arabic-language Iranian satellite television channels, and the American and British left-leaning mainstream media.
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