- The Israel Defense Forces is reestablishing its
psychological
warfare unit, after a lengthy period in which the unit was dormant. It
operates mostly in the Palestinian arena.
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- Lately, dozens of new job slots have been approved for
it, and the unit commander has begun filling officer's positions.
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- The psychological warfare unit was dramatically reduced
five years ago, but during the war with the Palestinians, the army grew
frustrated with the difficulty of influencing Palestinian opinion in the
territories - indeed, of even finding a way of communicating with the
population.
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- Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon often spoke about the need
to "sear into the consciousness" of the Palestinians that terror
would not lead to achievements. But the army found it difficult to get
the message across in the territories and rarely spoke directly with the
residents.
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- Lately, as part of the "battle for the
consciousness,"
Ya'alon decided to grant the status of a company to the unit. Heading it
will be a veteran intelligence officer holding the rank of colonel. He
was given about 70 positions to fill with officers and soldiers, with
emphasis
on Arabic speakers.
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- The doctrine for the unit is still in development, based
on consultation with veteran intelligence officers in reserves.
-
- The overall intention is to conduct "awareness
operations"
to influence Palestinian public opinion, mostly through propaganda,
psychological
warfare and sometimes disinformation.
-
- It will be under the command of the Operations Branch
in the general staff, but will get professional guidance from Military
Intelligence. MI had reservations about the unit in the past, when at
various
times it was located in the field security unit, and MI's research
department
has been opposed to including in its purview psychological warfare in its
various incarnations.
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- Lately, the psychological warfare department has been
involved in IDF propaganda efforts in Gaza.
-
- A senior military source told Haaretz that the air force
distributed some 250,000 leaflets in the last two weeks, in which the army
explained its reasoning in the war against terrorism, emphasizing that
non-combatant civilians are paying the price for Hamas terrorism.
-
- At the Karni and Rafah crossings, which the army closed
after deadly attacks, the army hung huge signs reading "Closed because
of the Hamas."
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- The unit's activities have been controversial for years.
In October 1999, Aluf Benn revealed in Haaretz that members of the unit
used the Israeli media to emphasize reports initiated by the unit that
it managed to place in the Arab press. He reported that the news reports
focused on Iranian and Hezbollah involvement in terror activity.
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- Psychological warfare officers were in touch with Israeli
journalists covering the Arab world, gave them translated articles from
Arab papers (which were planted by the IDF) and pressed the Israeli
reporters
to publish the same news here.
-
- That was meant to strengthen the perception of the
Iranian
threat in Israeli public opinion.
-
- The MI chief at the time, Amos Malka, was not
enthusiastic
about MI's responsibility for the unit and he used the embarrassing reports
to reduce its activity. Most of the officers who served in the unit were
transferred elsewhere. A lieutenant colonel was left in charge but the
unit's activities were frozen.
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- http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/531436.html
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