TORONTO — Israel’s Consul General in Toronto, Amir Gissin, left, is calling on the expatriate Israeli community to join in the local front in the ongoing war with Hamas.

Gissin said local Israelis should participate in the media and public relations war that is underway in Canada. It’s not sufficient to have their hearts and minds linked to events and people in Israel, he said. They must join the local Jewish community in making Israel’s case to Canadians.

“It’s time for members of the Israeli community who support Israel to be more active and get engaged in what the Jewish community is doing, to take a leadership role,” he said.

“There is a war we all cannot attend… This a war going on that is becoming more and more important in the media – the war for public opinion. That is where we can be effective, especially since the media is becoming a two-way communication.”

Gissin made his pitch at a special information meeting organized by the Association for Soldiers in Israel – Canada (ASI), a support group that “funds social, spiritual and recreational programs and facilities to ease the burden faced by young soldiers.”

He expanded on his remarks in an interview with The CJN.

Gissin, who was instrumental in launching a program to re-brand Israel, said contemporary media has become a two-way street, in which consumers “talk back and make their voice heard.” He urged Israelis to write letters to the editor about reportage from Gaza and to respond on Internet comment pages when they want to correct the record.

“It was a call for them to use the Internet and mailing lists, and talk to friends and get them involved, too,” he said. “We are not in a position to tell people what to say or what to do. We are in a position of encouragement.”

Gissin said the Canadian media has, by and large, been fair in its treatment of the current conflict. In fact, he continued, the overarching narrative of the conflict has departed from past descriptions of Israel’s fights with its enemies. This time, the media recognize that “Israel is fighting Hamas, not the Palestinian population. It also sees clearly that Hamas is acting as the proxy of Iran. People do understand. There is an organ outside the Middle East that is trying to destabilize the immediate arena.”

Hamas unilaterally ended a ceasefire and started firing 40, 50 and 80 missiles a day, and despite “pictures that are difficult” from Gaza, Canadians know who is responsible for the violence, he said.

Nir Sela, managing director of ASI Canada, said the information meeting, attended by about 200 people at the Bernard Betel Centre, also served as a fundraiser, with $30,000 raised that night. That money was bundled with funds raised earlier plus other donations in a package of “a few hundred thousand dollars” that was sent to Israel to support soldiers during the Gaza operation.

The money is going to an emergency campaign to provide various types of recreational and respite facilities for soldiers. ASI in Israel operates several large tents near Gaza in which off-duty soldiers can watch TV, surf the Internet, eat a meal, do laundry, mail letters and play games. Soldiers receive food packages twice a week, and ASI provides volunteer drivers who bring soldiers home on leave. The organization also operates other stand-alone facilities across the country as a sort of home away from home for off-duty soldiers.

ASI volunteers assist wounded soldiers in hospital with non-medical needs, such as arranging TVs, phones and Internet service for their rooms. Families visiting wounded soldiers are housed in small motel-like buildings near the hospitals.

The ASI supports “soldiers spiritual needs. We boost their morale,” Sela said. “We need to always tell them what they are doing is right.”