Doron Spielman, a public-diplomacy and policy expert, spoke about the international campaign against “settler violence” at the Farm Conference organized by Arutz Sheva and the Binyamin Regional Council, Arutz Sheva reported.

“It all started here in Israel from Haaretz,” Spielman said. “There was no awareness about it abroad until Haaretz began spreading it. The claim is that all ‘hilltop youth’ are violent and that there is no distinction between farms and violence. The data tells a completely different story.”

He explained how the reports are circulated worldwide.” “Last year there were maybe 300 youths who were involved in something connected to violence, but there were 870 reports of ‘hilltop-youth violence.’ You need to understand that a ‘report’ means any Arab in a village who claims something. Even if we assume that every report is accurate—out of half a million residents, this is only 0.15 percent—that’s nothing. In New York, there are 47 times more cases of violence than in Yehuda and Shomron, according to their own reports.”

“The reason they try to connect it to the farms here is simple: it’s the only way they can try to bring them down. That’s exactly what happened to me at the City of David—once we began uncovering the archaeological treasures, the radical left rushed to brand us as extremists.”

“We can’t base our future on the international community. If we depend on them, we won’t retain Yehudah and Shomron. What is portrayed as a burden can be turned into a strategic communications asset. When people see the genuine connection to the land, it becomes a national asset for Israeli public diplomacy.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)