The IDF has joined social networking, and its spokesman Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai has opened up a public Facebook page, where users can view real-time news updates.
“Acknowledging the importance of social networking, the IDF has taken action to expand their mission of fighting the war of public opinion to the Internet,” his office stated on the IDF website.
On the page, Facebook users can view real-time news updates, information, photos and videos on IDF activities in Israel.
The military in the past year has rapidly caught up with new technology, using Twitter to send out messages and uploading photos on Flickr.
The military was severely criticized for not keeping journalists and the public updated in real time in the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and the Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist terrorist campaign that was carried out two years ago.
It has shortened its lag time in responding to the media after terrorist attacks and counterterrorist maneuvers, but there still is a lack in countering constant propaganda disseminated by the Palestinian Authority media.
The spokesman’s office recently told Arutz Sheva, after being asked about a fictitious report that the IDF allegedly entered Gaza, that it was “fed up” with baseless claims.