As another year begins, Israel remains trapped in a familiar position — esponding to a constant stream of accusations delivered with moral certainty but examined with little analytical rigor. The prevailing assumption is that Israel has a public relations problem. That assumption is only partially correct. Israel’s difficulty is not primarily one of messaging, tone, or visibility. It is a failure of strategy. Israel has allowed itself to be drawn into an endless cycle of rebuttal without first enforcing the standards of reasoning by which the accusations against it are made. The deeper problem lies in the unchallenged abandonment of logical consistency by many of Israel’s critics, particularly in media and academic discourse.

Criticism of states is legitimate when it is grounded in clear criteria and applied consistently. It becomes corrosive when accusation replaces argument. Much of the contemporary critique of Israel proceeds from conclusions asserted first and justified later, if at all. Journalism, which carries a public trust, cannot afford this collapse of method. When reporters and commentators abandon logic, they do not merely misinform. 

They degrade the standards of public reasoning........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)