As quickly as Hamas succeeded with its October 7 invasion and it turned clear how laborious Israel would wish to come back down on the Gaza terror group to revive its safety, some important public relations hit to the Jewish state was inevitable.
Nonetheless, Israel and the IDF then carried out themselves in such ways in which the general public relations hit developed right into a diplomatic tsunami which has harmed Israel’s long-term nationwide safety and financial energy.
That’s historical past and can’t be modified.
When the NAZA movie got here out in mid-September, every week after the EU sanctioned Israel’s West Financial institution, a brand new chapter began.
Israel was going to take one other main hit. Nevertheless it additionally had a brand new alternative and the world’s full consideration to set the document straight throughout the globe over the alleged warfare crimes and genocide debate.
Not like earlier within the warfare, when it was overwhelmed preventing on seven fronts, had great uncertainty concerning the future, and inadequate time had handed to analyze many incidents – all of those components, which earlier than delayed Israel offering an in depth response to warfare crimes allegations, had been now extra in Israel’s favor.
Israel has no main lively battle on any fronts. It has had a ceasefire with Hamas since October 2025. Any incidents since then have been a comparatively small variety of simply trackable, focused airstrikes.
If Israel swung and missed large, or didn’t even trouble to swing on the warfare crimes allegations a 12 months in the past and two years in the past, now was the prospect for Israel to take a extra detailed and complete stand. Such a stand would come with debunking many false claims, but additionally admitting intimately to the varied errors, which might, in flip, strengthen the protection towards the largely false claims.
Israel is failing to do that. In that failure, Israel and the IDF are bringing about one other pointless main loss on the general public relations entrance, which can reverberate on the nationwide safety, financial, and authorized fronts in a a lot graver means than earlier, as a result of Israel is ranging from a a lot decrease level in its worldwide standing.
Will Israel wait till two homes of the US Congress, and presumably in two extra years, the occupant of the White Home, resolve to cease promoting Jerusalem the essential F-35 and different irreplaceable plane to appreciate that holding its playing cards near its chest is not an choice?
What has been held again for practically three years and continues to be unconscionably being held again after the NAZA movie?
Let’s take Israel’s response to the NAZA movie.
The movie is visually highly effective, however it has many gaping holes in its specifics.
For instance, the movie claims that Israel used a 100-to-1 ratio of civilians to combatants when concentrating on senior Hamas figures and a 201-to-1 ratio when concentrating on decrease Hamas members.
Israel rightly challenged these generalities and requested for particular examples.
Unhappy, misguided, and self-defeating responses
Final week, the BBC offered these examples with meticulous comprehensiveness.
For a number of days, The Jerusalem Submit spoke to a number of sources at a number of ranges and in several IDF divisions, begging to get particular responses to the examples introduced by the BBC.
The unhappy, misguided, and self-defeating responses of IDF sources had been as follows:
1) There isn’t a level. Nobody believes us anyway, and the entire world is towards us anyway.
2) They’ve given us too many examples to reply to, and we do not have the sources to reply.
3) If we give out the knowledge, it’s going to endanger data safety concerns, assist the enemy, or be used towards us in worldwide judicial warfare crimes proceedings, or each.
Anybody who says level primary shouldn’t deal with public relations, because it indicators they do not perceive the nuances of various sectors of the general public within the US, Europe, and elsewhere.
There are completely antisemites in addition to long-standing “naïve idiots” who’re anti-Israel who won’t ever be satisfied of Jerusalem’s simply or advanced case.
However there are additionally tons of individuals throughout the West and in different areas of the world who stood with Israel earlier than October 7, after October 7, and for the remainder of 2023 and far of 2024, even because the IDF floor components of Gaza into the sand whereas preventing Hamas.
For a lot of longtime Israel supporters, the change solely got here in July 2025 when Israel admitted a significant meals insecurity disaster in Gaza, and the UN declared that famine had lastly occurred.
Subsequently, it turned clear that Israel’s meals surge narrowly averted famine.
However the stain of the excessive probability of famine, which Israel was compelled to confess to (even when it finally averted it) led to a sea change and Israel’s European allies lastly acknowledged a Palestinian state, giving Israel nothing in alternate.
As well as, Israel’s Western allies misplaced persistence with years of the federal government, particularly the police, failing to rein in Jewish lawlessness and even generally terror within the West Financial institution.
However most significantly, as soon as the invasion of Gaza resulted in October 2025, the world’s persistence in ready for Israel’s reply to warfare crimes costs was exhausted.
This was a course of, and a few of these as soon as pro-Israel individuals may nonetheless be retrievable if Jerusalem and the IDF act quick sufficient with a transparency blitz to confront NAZA and reply the particular costs within the BBC article.
The case is below evaluation
Relating to the IDF declare that the BBC requested for too many responses, the Submit then requested the IDF to reply, at a minimal, to the 4 extremely particular instances the BBC flagged.
The primary case was from December 2023 when a mom, Nahida Anton, and her daughter, Samar Anton, had been killed by sniper hearth contained in the grounds of the Holy Household church in Gaza, in accordance with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Almost three years later, the IDF merely states the case is below evaluation.
After three years, it’s really fairly easy: the IDF admits fault and is deciding whether or not to prosecute or merely self-discipline the troopers concerned; the IDF denies fault and explains why; or the IDF admits that its record-keeping was defective and it’s not positive who might need been concerned and so can not attain a conclusion. A few of these outcomes might be embarrassing, however after three years, delaying the reply is much worse and makes it seem like the NAZA story is true and the IDF’s request for specifics a straw man.
Within the second case, the IDF struck the Tabaeen college advanced and close by mosque in Gaza in August 2024. Gazan authorities and the BBC declare that at the least 93 individuals had been killed, together with six girls and 11 youngsters. The IDF a lot earlier within the warfare responded that 31 Hamas terrorists had been killed and that the civilian demise estimates had been exaggerated.
After over two years, what number of civilians does the IDF say had been really killed, if not 62 (93 minus 31)? As soon as once more, the IDF can come clean with having made a mistake and killed too many civilians, can defend its declare and say what number of civilians really died, or can share why it thought the civilian demise studies had been exaggerated, whereas explaining the place some everlasting uncertainty will stay.
Probably embarrassing, however significantly better than the present silence.
Within the third case, simply outdoors of Jenin in September 2024, the IDF reportedly killed 16-year-old Lujain Musleh throughout an Israeli operation. Lujain’s father stated she was shot within the head as she appeared out of the window at her home in Kafr Dan, after troopers had surrounded a neighboring home. In line with the BBC, the IDF stated on the time that armed fighters had fired on the troopers, who had “fired again at a suspect who noticed” them, and that the main points of the incident had been below evaluation.
How is that this nonetheless open two years later? There are once more three easy decisions for the IDF to select from about find out how to reply at this level.
The fourth case entails Lebanon. There, an IDF investigation recognized by BBC Confirm appeared into an incident on November 10, 2024, wherein an Israeli strike allegedly killed 23 individuals, together with seven youngsters, close to town of Byblos, Lebanon. In line with the BBC, the IDF stated on the time it had focused a Hezbollah website, and that it was reviewing the incident.
To be a damaged document: How is that this nonetheless open two years later? There are once more three easy decisions for the IDF to select from about find out how to reply at this level.
What is helpful, and devastating, concerning the BBC article is that it offers each concrete information as an outline, collating all the 300 or so occasions when the IDF stated it was investigating an incident, with 4 particular incidents masking the Gaza, West Financial institution, and Lebanon fronts.
Not like NAZA, the BBC is being particular. It’s basing itself on IDF public information. After which it merely asks the IDF to offer its facet of the story.
The IDF offered a weird, long-winded, tone-deaf response concerning the quite a few components it considers when and find out how to publicize choices on such incidents.
Right here is the underside line: for practically three years, till August 19, 2026, the IDF revealed nearly zero public choices.
On August 19, 2026, to its credit score, it lastly revealed 5 well-reasoned and detailed choices.
However what concerning the different 295 choices?
There are 10 or so different particular choices which the Submit has been requesting responses to for round two years.
The BBC credit the IDF with choices, or partial choices, in one other 40 or so instances, even when the IDF did a poor job highlighting them and did not make any main announcement.
To its credit score, the IDF has stated it’s criminally investigating 150 instances and has carried out preliminary evaluations of three,000 instances. To its credit score, the BBC acknowledges the IDF has stated that it disciplined dozens of troopers.
But when the IDF received far sufficient alongside to want to criminally probe 150 instances, why can it not launch some extra complete interim findings of the place these instances stand – at the least after two or three years from when most incidents occurred?
The Submit additionally requested the IDF to launch ranks, violation classes, and punishment classes for the handfuls of troopers disciplined, with out disclosing the particular troopers’ names or items.
With out doing so, how can any fair-minded Westerner decide what disciplining dozens of troopers actually means?
The BBC additionally interviewed former IDF worldwide legislation division chief Col. (res.) Eran Shamir Borer, who inspired the navy to be extra clear.
The truth is, in round a dozen conversations with prime IDF authorized officers over the course of the warfare, all of them have stated the IDF ought to transfer sooner and be extra clear in publicizing choices, relationship again all the way in which to summer time 2024 when the navy first began any public dialogue of its probes.
We return to the third motive for not disclosing data: data safety and the chance that information might be abused in worldwide proceedings.
The IDF has launched possible 20,000 or fairly a bit extra airstrikes on Gaza during the last three years. Hamas has enormous information to grasp when it’s going to and won’t assault relating to civilians.
On prime of that, the IDF has killed over 25,000 Hamas terrorists regardless of the group’s human shields technique.
This is likely one of the most public wars in historical past, with the one lacking piece being Israel’s defensive narrative.
Do Israeli generals actually assume that something they put into the general public sphere goes to be all that new to Hamas or carry again to life the already killed 25,000 terrorists? The Worldwide Prison Court docket has already issued arrest warrants in two rounds towards Israelis, and it and the Worldwide Court docket of Justice are primarily contemplating being harder on Israel in lieu of a complete protection.
How a lot worse will offering an in depth protection make issues?
Israel has misplaced the Palestinian statehood diplomatic battle, the reputational battle, a lot of the authorized battle, and, just lately, a sanctions battle, however nonetheless has an opportunity to carry onto its nationwide safety wants with the US.
Will Israel and the IDF get up in time?
