Israel plans to use social networking sites for improving image

Israeli military plans to set up a separate unit that would use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to reach out to international audience.

As part of its cyber defence strategy,Israeli military plans to set up a separate unit that would use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to reach out to international audience.

Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman Brig Gen Avi Benayahu said the new department would focus on the Internet’s social media networks,mainly to reach out to international audience directly rather than through the regular media.

The proposal for the unit,as well as an initiative by the Information and Diaspora Ministry to train people to represent Israel independently on the Internet and in other arenas,were presented yesterday at the Eilat Journalists Conference during a panel discussion on Israeli public relations abroad.

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Some eight to ten youngsters,who are experts in Web 2.0 – YouTube,Facebook and Twitter,will be identified during induction to the IDF Spokesman’s office and assigned the job,Benayahu told journalists in the southern city of Eilat.

He later told daily Ha’aretz that the programme will be up and running in a few months.

As per media reports,the Army Spokesperson’s Office began working on this more than a year ago in view of video postings on Youtube showing Israel in a poor light.