Looking for new wartime spokeswoman, Israeli Prime Minister’s Office hires ALL ISRAEL NEWS senior correspondent
Tal Heinrich is no longer producing THE ROSENBERG REPORT – now’s she giving daily press briefings
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – From the moment the magnitude of the Hamas slaughter became apparent on Saturday, Oct. 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi’ Netanyahu knew the Jewish state was not only going to war against the terrorist regime in the Gaza Strip.
It would also be engaged in a high-stakes information war.
And from decades of experience, Netanyahu also knows that much of the so-called “mainstream” media is either unfriendly and skeptical of anything Israel to outright hostile to flat out at war with Israel.
So, Bibi and his inner circle immediately began making calls to hire a team of highly experienced, professional, and media-savvy spokesmen and women.
They needed people capable of giving both the Israeli and international press corps the facts.
And pushing back against Hamas’ lies.
One of their first calls was to Tal Heinrich.
FROM SENIOR CORRESPONDENT TO GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN
Born in Tel Aviv, now 38, Tal is fluent in five languages, including Arabic, but feels most comfortable operating in Hebrew and English.
Tal once served in Unit 8200, the IDF’s premier intelligence-gathering organization, somewhat akin to the National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States.
Six years ago, she moved to New York to work as an anchor for i24 news – Israel’s 24/7 English language cable news channel – as well as occasionally appear as a correspondent and commentator for Israel’s Channel 14 news.
After i24 downsized three years ago, closing its U.S. operations, I immediately hired Tal to be a senior correspondent for ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and quickly became incredibly impressed with her reporting and writing.
Last year, knowing that her true love is television news, I asked Tal if she would be willing to split her time.
While I wanted her to continue serving as a correspondent for ALL ISRAEL NEWS and All ARAB NEWS, I also hoped she would agree to be my senior producer for THE ROSENBERG REPORT, the new, weekly, prime-time TV show that I launched on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) – the most watched Christian TV network in the U.S. – on Oct 2, 2022.
Though Tal is Jewish – not a Christian – she immediately agreed.
Why?
She told me she believes it’s vitally important for Christians to have access to credible, honest, fair and accurate reporting about Israel and the Arab/Islamic world.
She also believes it’s critical for the Jewish world to build closer ties to the Evangelical Christian community.
Based in Manhattan, and working out of TBN’s studios there, Tal quickly proved herself not only as a great producer but someone who could consistently report her own segments and come on air to discuss critical issues with me.
When she called me on that dreadful, dark day of the Hamas invasion and slaughter near Gaza earlier this month, she told me that someone from the Prime Minister’s Office had just called her, “drafted” her into national service as Netanyahu’s new wartime spokeswoman, and booked her on an El Al flight that very night.
She hadn’t seen it coming but told me she had to do it.
“Absolutely,” I said, “and I couldn’t be more proud of you. We’re all going to miss you. But you’re going to do an amazing job for our country and our people. The prime minister couldn’t have chosen anyone better.”
HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING
The moment she landed in Tel Aviv that Sunday, Tal hit the ground running.
She immediately reported to IDF headquarters at the Kirya – Israel’s version of the Pentagon – where she was briefed on the latest developments.
Almost immediately, she was in charge of doing the daily 5 p.m. briefing for the international media, while also fielding hundreds of press inquiries, as the scope of the Hamas slaughter became even more apparent, IDF airstrikes against Hamas positions in Gaza intensified, and some 360,000 reservists were mobilized ahead of a full-scale ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Earlier this week, I interviewed my dear friend, Tal Heinrich, on how she got this new job, the shock of adjusting from being a journalist and working for me to being a government spokeswoman working for the prime minister and his senior team, and the dynamics of the rapidly changing news cycles.
I also asked her about the intense media war being waged against Israel right now.
And what the Israeli government’s message is to the global Christian community at this critical hour.
I strongly encourage you to watch the full interview.
But here are a few excerpts.
MESSAGE TO CHRISTIANS: “KEEP TELLING THE STORY OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE”
“I know that Evangelical supporters of the Jewish state – the State of Israel – are aching just like us,” Tal told me.
“And your help and prayers and everything that you’re doing is being felt here.”
“The spiritual help, if it’s with donations, everything is being greatly appreciated here,” she quickly added. “It’s heartwarming….and it’s strengthening us. So, we are very, very thankful for that.”
“It’s very important that you keep telling the story of what has happened here and help us convey this message to the world.”
THE MOMENT SHE HEARD THE NEWS OF THE ATTACKS, AND GOT THE CALL TO COME HOME
“When more and more reports started to come in” on Saturday, the 7th, “I was in New York City, and I was telling my boyfriend that it's very hard to breathe,” she told me.
“It felt as if I was taking in air, but not enough oxygen came in with every inhale.”
“And then I got called up…to come here to the Prime Minister's Office, to the National Public Diplomacy Directorate, that they have created here for this war,” she continued.
“And once I landed, once the flight landed, I took in the air and suddenly the oxygen came in.”
“It is very, very difficult – and you know it – to be Israeli, or to be Jewish, or to love Israel so much, and be outside of the country hearing about such atrocities taking place in the Holy Land,” Heinrich told me. “You just want to feel like you're doing something.”
“So, I'm very grateful that they called me up. And I'm very honored, honestly, to be doing my part as part of this national effort.”
“There are so many personal stories of bravery that we're hearing about with every hour that passes. And I think this is the true spirit of this nation, and this is what's going to take us to the next stage, which will be a victory.”
Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and the President and CEO of Near East Media. A New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical leader, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and sons.
