Yigal Palmor
Yigal PalmorYoni Kempinski

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor, who attended the Knesset’s special session on public relations on Tuesday, told Arutz Sheva that the Foreign Ministry does not see public diplomacy as a war but rather as a peaceful challenge.

“We don’t see our relationship with the media as a war, but rather as a continuing engagement and outreach,” he said. “That is something that we must keep in mind. We seek dialogue with everyone and on every possible issue of interest. We shun no one. We speak about everything.”

Palmor said that while anti-Israel propaganda has been getting worse, foreign media outlets are not necessarily buying it.

“The anti-Israel propaganda has crossed so many red lines,” he said, “that some people are now rethinking and reconsidering their positions.”

One example of this, Palmor said, is the recent visit to Israel by India’s Foreign Minister.

“We have gone through the media coverage [of the visit] in India,” recalled Palmor. “The Indian media have not gained a reputation for being pro-Israel over the last 60 years, and I have to say that we were amazed by the openness, by the friendliness displayed by the media in India towards Israel in the wake of this visit.”

Palmor noted that this positive attitude towards Israel was also displayed by the Indian media in the Urdu language, that is, the media that represents the Muslim community in India.

“Yes, they have their criticism, but everything is expressed in a very reasonable manner,” he said. “There’s an openness that we haven’t seen before, and I think this change is something about which we have to be very encouraged.”