Hillel Fendel
Only 50 reporters from around the world arrived in Israel to cover the meetings between US President George Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Danny Seaman, Director-General of the Israel Government Press Office, says international interest in the Israeli-Arab conflict has faded. When former US President Bill Clinton came a decade ago, 1,000 journalists descended upon Israel from the world media.
Seaman emphasized, however, that "when we count how many journalists arrive, we don't count the 130 or so who arrived with Bush as part of their regular White House coverage, and also the hundreds who are here on a regular basis."
Seaman told Arutz-7’s Hebrew-language “Freedom of Broadcast” show, “The preparations we made for the international media were very complex and involved. The Prime Minister’s Office set up a special team, headed by Deputy Director Amnon Ben-Ami, to coordinate all the details.”
The wane in world interest in international news was noted three years ago, Seaman said, “when fewer journalists than expected arrived to cover Arafat’s death. In general, the world is more interested in local news. In addition, of course, there have not been any significant breakthroughs in the talks with the Palestinians, and none are expected, so there is not much to come for… They have learned from the past; they have had enough of 'hopes' ever since the beginning of the Oslo process.”
Families of terrorist victims will be brought to meet the journalists, and the press center will also feature photos of the captive Israeli soldiers – Gilad Shalit, who is being held by Hamas, and Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, who are being held by Hizbullah.
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