Jewish community groups have announced a plan to launch a global TV news network to support Israel and compete against international satellite channels which they believe are “hostile” to the Zionist state, especially Qatar-based Al-Jazeera.
Alexander Machkevitch, President of the Annual Conference for Jewish Community Leaders, made the announcement at the 2011 conference being held in Washington. The decision to launch a global TV news network comes following “recurrent losses of the war on Israel”; he questioned the veracity of the “facts” broadcast by some media outlets. According to Machkevitch, many are “propaganda and hostile fabrications against Israel”. The Hebrew newspaper Maariv said that the project will launch news channels broadcasting in English, Arabic, French and Spanish, to ensure they address most of the world’s population.
The Annual Conference for Jewish Community Leaders is attended by more than two hundred Jewish leaders from around the world. During the first couple of days of this year’s conference, the discussions focused on how to deal with the attempts to “de-legitimise Israel” and on practical ways to counter the influence of the media on international public opinion.