IDF reviving psychological warfare unit By Amos Harel Haaretz Tue., January 25, 2005 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/531436.html 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. Lately, dozens of new job slots have been approved for it, and the unit commander has begun filling officer's positions.
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. 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. 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. 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. 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." 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. 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. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/531436.html __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 250MB free storage. Do more. Manage less. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Would you Help a Child in need? It¿s easier than you think. Click Here to meet a Child you can help. http://us.click.yahoo.com/kx_54C/I_qJAA/i1hLAA/TXWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamcity/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
