In shift, army taps new spokesman from business world, a former aide to Livni

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi on Monday tapped military neophyte Gil Messing to replace Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis as the Israel Defense Force’s next spokesperson, in an apparent indication of a change in tack in the army’s public relations efforts.

The appointment was approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as defense minister.

Manelis, a former aide of Kohavi’s predecessor Gadi Eisenkot, has served as IDF spokesperson for two years — a normal tenure for the position.

Messing, who currently serves as head of global corporate communications for the technology company Check Point, is due to take over as spokesman in the coming months, the army said.

Though Messing has served in a number of senior public relations positions throughout his career, including as a spokesperson for Tzipi Livni and as a director of communications for the Strauss food manufacturer, he has far less military experience than many of his predecessors in the position of IDF spokesperson.

The 35-year-old father of two served in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit from 2001 to 2006, first in the unit’s international media branch and then, as an officer, within the IDF’s Gaza Division, before his release from military service.

Though once common for IDF spokespeople to come from a public relations or journalism background — being brought into the military from civilian life — the army’s past three flacks have instead come from within the IDF.

Manelis served in a variety of positions in Military Intelligence and as an aide to Eisenkot before taking over as spokesman.

His predecessor, Maj. Gen. Moti Almoz, served in the military’s liaison units to the Palestinians before his appointment to the spokesperson’s unit in 2013.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Yoav Mordechai also served in both Military Intelligence and in the liaison unit before taking over as spokesperson in 2011.

The decision to buck this trend by appointing the relatively young and militarily inexperienced Messing appeared to be an effort to alter the IDF’s communications strategy.

The past year has seen a significant increase in criticism of the IDF — both within Israel and abroad — especially over its public relations efforts regarding its operations along the Gaza border, which saw regular riots and some 200 Palestinians killed by Israeli snipers.

Though Israel maintains that these riots were orchestrated by the Hamas terror group and that it abided by legal rules of engagement, shooting only at legitimate military targets, many countries and officials around the world denounced the IDF’s actions, accusing the army of shooting at unarmed protesters.

As the incoming IDF spokesperson, Messing will likely be tasked with improving the military’s international standing.

Messing lives in Tel Aviv with his wife and two children. He holds a bachelors degree in government, diplomacy and strategy from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya and a masters degree in legal studies from Bar-Ilan University.