Since When Is Israel Always Behind the Curve?

Anyone who has followed me for more than five minutes knows that. I have spent years defending Israel, writing about Israel, correcting lies about Israel and trying to explain Israel to people who often decided what they believed before they bothered checking a single fact.

But loving Israel does not mean applauding everything Israel does.

Sometimes loving a country means shouting at it.

And right now I feel like shouting:

Since when did Israel become the country that is always behind the curve?

Israel built its reputation on being ahead of everyone else. Military intelligence. Security. Technology. Innovation. Counterterrorism. Cybersecurity. Intelligence gathering. Israel survived because it learned very early that waiting until a threat became enormous was not a strategy.

You identified the smoke before the building burned down.

At least, that was the Israel I admired.

Sometimes I watch Israel’s public diplomacy and social media response today and genuinely wonder whether anybody understands how modern information warfare actually works.

We celebrate when a celebrity, singer or pop icon says something supportive about Israel. Social media explodes. Everybody shares it. Everybody cheers because somebody famous has finally said something sensible.

I appreciate every person willing to stand beside Israel when doing so can cost followers, friends and contracts.

But celebrity support is not a strategy.

Meanwhile, genuinely vicious anti Israel narratives are allowed to spread across websites, documentaries and social media platforms, gathering momentum and reaching enormous audiences before Israel seems to understand that something serious is........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)