Monday, April 5, 2010

Michael Oren on CNN: The Need for PR

In an earlier blog entry (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.com/2010/04/open-letter-to-prime-minister-benjamin.html), I observed Israel's pressing need for a foreign minister able to meet with the press and present Israel's message clearly, concisely and forthrightly. In the comments to this blog entry, I noted Ambassador Michael Oren's ability to provide the necessary goods. Now read for yourselves Oren's interview with Candy Crowley, where Oren responds to the Obama administration canard that Israel is jeopardizing U.S. troops:

"Moreover, if there was no Israel, would American forces be more safe or less safe? Through the cooperation of Israel, Americans are incredibly more safe, because through the cooperation with Israel, American soldiers are receiving training, receiving intelligence, receiving equipment that Israel has developed jointly with the United States. And Israel is saving incalculable number of American lives through our cooperation."

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1004/04/sotu.01.html

Michael Oren has mastered the art of the five-minute interview, no small fete. It's time the Israeli foreign ministry learned from him. It is no accident that an Egyptian newspaper labeled Oren "the most dangerous man in Washington."

2 comments:

  1. Hi, Jeffrey

    I read the interview. I had an impression that it is a typical American journalism, where questions are more important than answers. She gathered all the accusations against Israel, floating around, including the Petraneus' one, which he denied already. She did not acknowledged any of Oren's answers, instead pressing with more accusations. (At some point she even explained to Oren, what is the most important: that Palestinians have claims for Jerusalem, so Israel and Oren have to recognize that).

    She started with showing the humiliation of Netanyahu, and ended with humiliation of Oren, when he said that the relationship are "great".

    What Lieberman would do differently? Probably, he would not praise Abbas and Obama that much. I do not see, why it would be worse for Israel or American Jews.

    Lieberman is less charming (he looks and speaks like he is from shtetl - which is abhorrent for many Jews). Yet, I doubt that Oren's charm changed the designed outcome of this interview.

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  2. Thanks, Marina.

    CNN has always been hostile to Israel, and this cannot be changed. However, the persons watching the interview, particularly those in the U.S., can be influenced, in my opinion.

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