Being First to Provide Information is Essential

I have suggested this before and I wasn’t listened to and so I hope that I will be read in the Israeli Ministry of Defense this time around. The fundamental problem with IDF informational efforts in wartime is that the IDF is too slow to provide timely and accurate info to the media. It is pretty simple, the one who consistently puts out reliable information first wins the media war. Therefore, the IDF would be particularly well-advised to set up an online war log, complete with photos and videos directly from the military theaters. This would basically be organized like a blog with coordinates, clickable/enlargeable maps, aerial videos/pictures and number of strikes, type of munition and physical address for every airstrike plus any other relevant information such as why this particular location was targeted and whether locals were warned. As much documentation and evidence as possible should be provided for every blog post and so should it be possible to listen to recorded phone calls warning residents. If terrorists were personally targeted then their terrorist ”CVs” should be listed in quite some detail and there should be pictures and biographies of their victims. This is particularly fitting for aerial operations against terror targets in Gaza but an online war log should also provide accurate and near instant information on developments as they happen in the northern theater. The IDF will of course not be compelled to put out any information that compromises its own servicepersons or operations and will therefore control the flow of information through this informational super-weapon.