Netanyahu Video Statement on Gaza, Dec 2008

In Benyamin Netanyahu’s statement on Gaza, he makes a direct appeal to his international audience. Placing the challenges that Israel faces in terms foreigners can relate to, he simplifies the decisions made regarding Gaza. Using the scale of towns and neighborhoods, viewers can connect with the faces and people that are victims to these war crimes on their sovereign home. Posing the question, “what’s a country to do?” we are asked how we, “the international community”, would respond to the threats that he describes. Protecting its citizens through precise attacks, Iraq is taking the “necessary” action that any government would do to responsibly protect its citizens. The course that Israel has taken in the face of rocket attacks fired out of Gaza would be the one that any responsible government would.

His key verb is pinpoint, pinpoint, pinpoint, not strike or attack. Precision makes the action against Hamas justified, as he positions himself internationally as the voice (already replacing the discredited Olmert before he leaves office) of Israel’s measured, patient response to thousands of missiles. As the yet-to-be elected prime minister of Israel, in this video he aligns the status of his country with his desired observers. The legitimacy of his office (with him in it) and his state are key points here. Behind a desk flanked by the Israeli flag and signs of achievement and academia, Netanyahu’s message builds on and amplifies the status of his position. Delivering his statement in flawless English, he is a relatable, familiar, white figure of authority. This is something that a Hamas leader, like Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, although dressed in classic western political wear, isn’t ever granted from the mass American audience.

As he frames the military action against Gaza, Netanyahu makes certain that British and American audiences can connect with a familiar rhetoric that they heard from their immediate past leaders. As the Blair and Bush have, Netanyahu places this conflict as a battle for “peace and decency.” The security of its citizens, the future of the region, and peace for the world are goals that most governments would support. He almost says “We’ve tried diplomacy” when he reminds the viewers that Israel has been talking to “the Hamas” (putting the article “the” before Hamas begs it to be followed by “terrorists” or another pejorative noun). His message is crafted carefully and palatably. Garnering legitimacy for himself and the military actions that he campaigned on and wishes to extend is a clear goal for Netanyahu as he enters the office of prime minister. Whether he will be able to direct international opinion towards his geopolitical bent that sees Iran and Hamas as inextricably linked terrorist brethren and a economic “development”-driven one state solution as the “just” direction for the region will be interesting to watch.