With the support of the civil administration, preparations to create an Arabic-language news website that targets Palestinian audiences are about to be completed. The staff of the new site, dubbed “Channel Liberman,” will consist of soldiers and civilians who speak Arabic, veterans of Israel Defense Forces intelligence units, and internet and content specialists. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman ordered the creation of the website. Its content, such as analyses of events and trends in the news, will present the stories from an Israeli perspective.

According to Liberman, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has seized control of the major Palestinian centers of power, including the media. As a result, any attempt to communicate with the Palestinians must go through the Muqata (seat of Palestinian government) in Ramallah. “I want to connect with them [Palestinians] directly,” Liberman told reporters, when presenting his new “carrot-and-stick” plan Aug. 17.

Some 10 million shekels ($2.6 million) have already been invested in the website, which is expected to launch in January 2017, once the design is completed and the staff positions allocated to it by the Ministry of Defense are filled. Choice content from the site will also be made available on social network platforms, especially Facebook. In other words, as of early next year, Israelis and Palestinians can expect to be flooded with Israeli propaganda, courtesy of the Ministry of Defense.

Elias Zananiri, a member of the Committee for Interaction with Israeli Society, told Al-Monitor that the Palestinians are not taking the “Muqata bypass” website seriously. According to him, the Israeli Ministry of Defense, by way of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), is busy dealing with magical solutions instead of focusing on the truly important issues. “They believe that they can use propaganda to find an alternative [Palestinian] leadership.” He added, “But it is doomed to failure.”