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As the Prime Minister’s International Media Adviser, I used the first day of our visit here – how not – for public relations. The Israeli Embassy in Japan helped organize a visit for me to the editorial offices of the Mainichi newspaper (http://mdn.mainichi.jp/), one of Japan’s leading dailies, with a daily circulation almost the same as the number of citizens of Israel. Mainichi’s main competitor is Yomiuri (http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/), which prints approximately 10 million copies a day. However, Prime Minister Olmert himself did the public relations work for Yomiuri’s readers when he granted an interview to its Israel correspondent even before leaving Israel. It should be noted that several of Japan’s principal media outlets have correspondents in Israel.)
Accompanied by Haim Choshen, from our embassy in Tokyo, I was received by Mainichi’s managing director (Mr. Yoshiaki), its foreign news editor (Mr. Yoshida), its deputy foreign news editor (Mr. Yoshinori) and its diplomatic correspondent (Mr. Higuchi), who hosted me in their meeting room and served hot Japanese tea. (It should also be noted that both Mr. Yoshinori and Mr. Higuchi previously served as Mainichi’s correspondents in Israel.)
The Mainichi gentlemen were very interested in the diplomatic process with the Palestinians, especially regarding events in Gaza (http://tinyurl.com/3ypjqk). I described to them the process that began at the international meeting in Annapolis (http://tinyurl.com/2goqa7) and the regular meetings that have been held with the senior Palestinian Authority leadership since then. But the main topic, among both the Israeli delegation and the Japanese editors, who live 12-hours flying time from Sderot and the Gaza Strip, was the situation in the Gaza Strip. It should be noted that upon our arrival here, we received reports from Israel regarding Hamas’s intention to allow large-scale demonstrations (http://tinyurl.com/2qjokc), as well as on the concern that Hamas would incite the throngs to attempt to break through towards Israel. Hamas uses the media to create giant productions (such as the stage-managed electricity outage several weeks ago; http://tinyurl.com/3djeyy), the goal of which is to create legitimacy for its terrorist regime in the Gaza Strip. Several hours after the current production, Hamas again proved that it is a terrorist organization; firing at Sderot resulted in an approximately 10-year-old boy being seriously wounded.
In any case, I tried to describe to my hosts what was going on in southern Israel, including the daily, intolerable distress of the residents of Sderot and the other communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip. I tried to underscore what it is like for the residents of the area to live under daily, continuous terrorism. I said that the world had to maintain the international isolation of Hamas as long as it champions the destruction of Israel and is involved in terrorism. I commended the Japanese government for avoiding any contact with Hamas.
We also discussed the Iranian issue. I briefed them on Israel’s position regarding the danger posed by a nuclear Iran. My hosts told me that the Iranian Ambassador to Japan had – one week ago – sat on the very couch was sitting on and had told the Mainichi journalists that Iran only wanted a nuclear capability for peaceful purposes – to generate electricity !!! I replied that it was not at all clear to me why a country without active industrial nuclear reactors, which could and does receive all the necessary nuclear fuel from other countries (such as Russia), is getting entangled in a confrontation with the West and the UN Security Council just for the sake of having a nuclear program for peaceful purposes. I noted that even the International Atomic Energy Agency (http://tinyurl.com/2snyf2) has pointed out inconsistencies and acts of concealment by the Iranian government.
Tomorrow, as Prime Minister Olmert has a series of meetings with Japanese economic leaders, I will continue meeting with various media outlets in order to explain Israel’s position. This will not be easy but the Japanese are willing to listen and this is our most important work.
Mark Regev,
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s International Media Adviser
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