Broadcasting to the Besieged: Netanyahu’s UN Speech as Cross-Border Theater
Israel’s plan to blast the Prime Minister’s UN address into Gaza via loudspeakers represents a surreal fusion of international diplomacy and psychological warfare.
The Message and the Medium
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has announced an unprecedented public diplomacy initiative: mounting loudspeakers on trucks along the Gaza border to broadcast Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming UN General Assembly speech directly into the besieged Palestinian territory. This coordinated effort with the Israeli Defense Forces will operate exclusively from the Israeli side of the border, with explicit instructions to avoid putting soldiers at risk.
The initiative transforms a diplomatic address at the world’s premier international forum into a tool of direct communication—or perhaps intimidation—aimed at a population that has endured nearly a year of devastating conflict. Since October 2023, Gaza has faced severe bombardment, displacement, and humanitarian crisis, with international organizations reporting catastrophic conditions for civilians trapped within the enclave.
Theater of the Absurd
This loudspeaker campaign reveals the peculiar dynamics of modern asymmetric conflict, where traditional boundaries between diplomacy, warfare, and propaganda dissolve. Netanyahu’s words, crafted for an international audience of diplomats and world leaders in New York, will simultaneously echo across the rubble of Gaza—a jarring juxtaposition that underscores the disconnect between diplomatic rhetoric and ground reality.
The tactic recalls Cold War-era propaganda broadcasts, yet with a distinctly contemporary twist. Unlike Radio Free Europe beaming hope to those behind the Iron Curtain, these speakers will carry the voice of the very leader overseeing the military campaign that has devastated Gaza’s infrastructure and claimed thousands of civilian lives. The psychological impact on Gazans—already traumatized by months of bombardment—remains to be seen.
Information Warfare in the Digital Age
This initiative also highlights Israel’s evolving approach to information warfare. In an era where social media shapes global narratives, the decision to use analog loudspeakers seems almost anachronistic. Yet it serves multiple purposes: demonstrating control over the border, potentially demoralizing Hamas supporters, and creating a media spectacle that will likely generate international headlines.
The careful stipulation that soldiers must not be put at risk reveals the ongoing security concerns along the Gaza border, where Hamas and other militant groups maintain a presence despite the extensive Israeli military campaign. It also suggests an awareness of the potential for this propaganda effort to provoke retaliation.
The Audience Question
Perhaps most striking is the assumption underlying this initiative: that Palestinians in Gaza, amid widespread destruction and humanitarian crisis, would be receptive to—or even capable of properly hearing—a diplomatic speech from the leader of the country conducting military operations against them. The project seems less about genuine communication and more about demonstrating dominance and control.
As Netanyahu prepares to address world leaders about Israel’s security concerns and regional vision, his words will simultaneously penetrate into Gaza, where over two million Palestinians remain trapped with limited access to food, water, and medical care. This stark contrast between the diplomatic stage and the humanitarian reality raises profound questions about the purpose and ethics of such “public diplomacy.”
In an age where information warfare increasingly blurs with traditional combat, one must ask: Is forcing a besieged population to hear their adversary’s international advocacy a form of psychological operations, a desperate attempt at legitimacy, or simply a new low in the theatricalization of human suffering?
