The propaganda war against Israel continues

The propaganda war against Israel never sleeps. Even in the face of evidence which contradicts it, the propaganda war won’t stop.

That’s the bad news. The good news is, there’s plenty of evidence to show how hollow, empty and downright false that war is.

Consider the impact of the 50-day Gaza war on Israel’s economy. According to anti-Israel advocate Shir Hever (“Israel Facing Major Economic Consequences for 50 Day War on Gaza”, The Real News, September 15, 2014), the recent 50-day war with Gaza has cost Israel’s economy dearly (ibid). Because of the war, he claims, Israel’s economy has slowed—and that slow-down will have a long-term negative impact on Israel (ibid).

He’s wrong. On the same day that Hever was predicting doom-and-gloom for Israel’s economic future, the Bank of Israel was announcing that the impact of this war had been to slow Israel’s economic growth from an annualized 2.9 per cent to 2.4 per cent (“War Puts a Snag in Israel's GDP Growth”, Arutz Sheva, September 15, 2014).

To put that drop into context, this year’s economic growth for the US and Europe will be close to just one per cent (ibid). Israel’s drop to a 2.4 per cent growth isn’t exactly a ‘long-term negative impact’ for Israel’s economy. In fact, even folding into the mix a negative quarter because of the fighting, Israel’s economy is still among the strongest in the West.

Now, Israel’s Globes Business News  reports that the S&P has weighed in on the war’s impact on Israel: so far as the S&P is concerned, the effect of the war on Israel’s economy  was negligible (“S&P: Gaza operation's fiscal effect minor”, Globes, September 21, 2014). After looking at Israel’s economic numbers, the S&P has concluded that the “Gaza conflict will lead to only a modest weakening of Israel's fiscal trajectory” (ibid).

Hever’s view (The Real News, above) is that this war has proven to be so economically unsustainable that Israel’s international credit ratings will drop (ibid). He claims that Israeli’s know this; that’s why, he says, young Israelis are leaving Israel if they can.

For Hever, Israel’s economic ship is sinking. The young are abandoning it. The inference is, you should also abandon Israel.

But the S&P Ratings company doesn’t agree with that assessment. Instead, it declares that the “fighting has not changed our view of Israel's core credit strengths, such as its prosperous and diverse economy” (Globes, ibid). As a result of its assessment, it has chosen to leave its rating of Israel unchanged (ibid).

Whom do you believe—an anti-Israel provocateur who has an anti-Israel agenda, or Standard and Poor’s?

The propaganda war against Israel grinds on. But the G-d of Israel protects His beloved. Israel remains strong, not weak. Israel grows stronger, not weaker (“Through War and Peace, Israel's Economy Continues to Soar”, Arutz Sheva, August 31, 2014).

Shir Hever says that time is working against Israel. How strange. Some in Israel believe the exact opposite: time, they argue, is actually working for Israel (Arutz Sheva, ibid).

All the economic indicators one can look at, these observers say, “confirm that Israel has experienced splendid economic integration, and unprecedented economic growth, in defiance of ongoing war, terrorism, boycotts and international pressure” (ibid).

That doesn’t sound like Israel’s economy suffers—or will suffer. It sounds like Israel’s economy is healthy—and strong. Nevertheless, those who hate Israel won’t back down.

They can’t stand to see Israel succeed. They prefer the lies of their propaganda.

That’s the only way Israel will suffer—through their lies.

The G-d of Israel has a Jewish Story He wants you to see. Israel’s economic strength--in a Region where economic turmoil is the norm--is part of that Story.  The propaganda of those who hate Israel is also part of that Story.