Towards A Responsive Mode of Policy Insocial Media and Government Relations

The controversy in the case of Elor Azaria, an Israeli soldier who shot a Palestinian assailant in the Palestinian city of Hebron, after he was wounded and neutralized, led to a highly emotional public debate in Israel. A video of the incident was uploaded on social media and caused a huge political storm. The incident divided the Israeli public and its leaders, with some expressing outrage over the killing of an incapacitated man, and others supporting even the most extreme response to a stabbing attack. The political involvement, through social media shows the impact that, social media has on the political arena. The research examines the way the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, reacted to the events. As one of the most popular of any world leader in social media, he executed a well-planned campaign, which helped him to mediate between the conflicting sides: the army, which opened an investigation against the solid and sentenced him to 18 months in jail; and public opinion, which widely supported the solider.