Israeli spokesman: Media coverage ‘relatively fair’

January 7, 2009

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- An Israeli spokesman said media coverage of the Gaza operation has been "relatively fair."

In a briefing for reporters from the Jewish press, Israeli Embassy director of public affairs Rafael Harpaz added that "what we would like to see more of is the suffering of the Israeli people" in the coverage.

Harpaz said that Israel is "doing much better in hasbara," or explaining its actions and policies to the public, than in past conflicts, noting that YouTube footage, talking points and other material are available on the Web within a couple hours of any major development in the conflict.

While in the past such information was not easily accessible to the public, "now we are overloaded with information," Harpaz said. He added that Israel also was using new media such as Twitter and reaching out to bloggers to get out its message.

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