In the wake of Operation Pillar of Defense and the global media interest in events in the south, hundreds of journalists and television crews have arrived to cover events in Israel and the Gaza Strip. According to Government Press Office (GPO) data, as of yesterday (Sunday, 18 November 2012), approximately 500 foreign journalists have arrived at the GPO in order to receive the press credentials that allow them free access to the conflict zones. They join the approximately 1,400 journalists and crew members who are already in the region to cover Israel and the Middle East. Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein has directed GPO Director Nitzan Chen to do what is necessary to receive the journalists quickly and efficiently, to hold press tours to the communities in the south that are under missile threat, and to provide them with information and data.
To these ends, the GPO has significantly extended its reception hours, received additional personnel and resources and held foreign press tours to the south, including to Barzilai Medical Center, in which journalists have been accompanied and briefed by Minister Edelstein.
GPO Director Nitzan Chen said, "The GPO has been working around the clock. After having seen a reduction in the foreign media presence in recent years due to the relative quiet and events of the Arab Spring, in recent days we have seen a genuine airlift. Of the approximately 500 journalists who have landed in Israel, approximately one-third have come to reinforce crews that have been reduced, one-third represent North American media outlets and one-third are from Europe."
Minister Edelstein said, "The manner of coverage and pictures that are sent to millions of viewers and readers around the world by foreign journalists also have great influence over what occurs on the battlefield. I have instructed the GPO to make a maximum effort to receive journalists efficiently and organize press tours to the areas in the south that are being shelled. We are working so that alongside the photos of planes and tanks, there are the voices of the people who have been enduring a daily reality over the years that no other country would be prepared to accept."
