Israel Under Fire

Israel Under Fire is a social media operation in support of Israel's 2014 campaign in Gaza run by students at the IDC Herzliya. According to The Age, the operation is staffed by some 400 student volunteers, and supported by the Israeli Government and the Israel Defence Forces.Matthew Hall, Israeli propaganda war hits social media, The Age, 18 July 2014. According to the Jerusalem Post, the operation was launched by the IDC Student Union on 10 July 2014, the first day of Operation Protective Edge.Lidar Gravé-Lazi, IDC fights war on another front, Jerusalem Post, 15 July 2014.
==Precursors - Establishing the State Cyber Advocacy paradigm==
At the beginning of Operation Cast Lead in December 2008, the US-based pro-Israel advocacy organization Stand With Us and the Sammy Ofer School of Communications at IDC Herzliya established a situation room for coordinating online networked activities alongside the website Help Us Win.Noam Lemelshtrich Latar, Gregory Asmolov & Alex Gekker,
'State Cyber Advocacy', Working Paper, Herzliya, 2010, 31 January-3 February 2010, p.25. This work was co-ordinated with the Israeli Foreign Ministry.Noam Lemelshtrich Latar, Gregory Asmolov & Alex Gekker,
'State Cyber Advocacy', Working Paper, Herzliya, 2010, 31 January-3 February 2010, p.26.
This experience was subsequently the basis of a paper presented to the 2010 Herzliya conference by scholars from the IDC's Asper Institute for New Media Diplomacy.Noam Lemelshtrich Latar, Gregory Asmolov & Alex Gekker, 'State Cyber Advocacy', Working Paper, Herzliya, 2010, 31 January-3 February 2010.
A similar operation was run out of IDC Herzliya during the 2012 Pillar of Defence operation in Gaza.Matthew Hall, Israeli propaganda war hits social media, The Age, 18 July 2014. On that occasion, it was initiated by Yarden Ben-Yosef, Karen Yoseph, and Lidor Bar David.Lidar Gravé-Lazi, IDC fights war on another front, Jerusalem Post, 15 July 2014.
==Structure==
Subunits within Israel Under Fire include:
*A team that translates messages from Hebrew into 30 languages 
*A graphics team creating charts and images to be distributed via Facebook and Twitter.
*a video editing department
*a talkback team that, according to volunteer Igal Raich, trawls social media “looking for inconsistent facts like ‘Israel constantly kills women and children’”.Matthew Hall, Israeli propaganda war hits social media, The Age, 18 July 2014.
==Doctored Images==
On 15 July 2014, the New York Times reported:
::One widely-shared image posted by Israelis using the #IsraelUnderFire tag, apparently showing a devout Muslim protester holding placards that read “Stop Hamas Terrorism on Israel” and “Free Gaza From Hamas,” appears to have been created by digitally manipulating a genuine news photograph of a November 2012 protest in Sarajevo.Robert Mackey, Young Israelis Fight Hashtag Battle to Defend #IsraelUnderFire, Open Source, New York Times, 15 July 2014.
The paper showed a screen cap of the doctored image in a tweet by Nisan Zeevi.Robert Mackey, Young Israelis Fight Hashtag Battle to Defend #IsraelUnderFire, Open Source, New York Times, 15 July 2014.
 
==People==
*Lidor Bar DavidRobert Mackey, Young Israelis Fight Hashtag Battle to Defend #IsraelUnderFire, Open Source, New York Times, 15 July 2014.
*Karen YosephLidar Gravé-Lazi, IDC fights war on another front, Jerusalem Post, 15 July 2014.
*Igal Raich - volunteer in 'the Advocacy room'Matthew Hall, Israeli propaganda war hits social media, The Age, 18 July 2014.
*Emanuele De BenedettiLidar Gravé-Lazi, IDC fights war on another front, Jerusalem Post, 15 July 2014.
*Tal YaffeLidar Gravé-Lazi, IDC fights war on another front, Jerusalem Post, 15 July 2014.
*Tomer AmsalemAli Abunimah, Israel student union sets up “war room” to sell Gaza massacre on Facebook, The Electronic Intifada, 14 July 2014.
*Inbal DeutschAli Abunimah, Israel student union sets up “war room” to sell Gaza massacre on Facebook, The Electronic Intifada, 14 July 2014.
==Related Accounts==
*Website: www.Israelunderfire.com
*Twitter israelunderfire
*Facebook IsraelUnderFireLive
==Related Powerbase resources==
*IDC Herzliya
*StandWithUs
==Notes==
Category:Israel