The IDF International Spokesperson Is Concluding His Service

The beginning of Lt. Col. Conricus’ military career didn’t start with cameras, television screens and newspapers, but as a combat soldier in the Givati Brigade.  From there, he went to the IDF commanders and officers course, served as a combat commander on some of Israel’s most active borders, and was the first IDF officer to hold a position at the United Nations Headquarters. Today, after 24 years in the Israel Defense Forces, Lt. Col. Conricus’ concludes his service and summarizes his unforgettable moments in the IDF.

You are finishing a particularly spectacular military career, what are your feelings?

A sense of satisfaction, gratitude and joy. Along with the challenges and difficulties I faced during this position. Looking back, this specific role over the last four years has been the most significant, most challenging, and most fascinating role I have ever done. This is despite the fact that I fought in both Lebanon and Gaza, and served in many interesting positions, including the position at the UN. With respect to all of those assignments, this role is the most significant I have held during my time in the military.

You say this has been the most significant job you've done in the military, what made it so?

Relating to the media aspect - the responsibility and influence. The first time I briefed journalists and saw their media coverage, I realized that the responsibility is huge and the power is tremendous, and from that experience grew the responsibility and sanctity I attribute to the job.

In the International Media Branch of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, there are almost 60 soldiers and officers under my command. I am responsible for their lives and their needs from A to Z. This part of the job is not glamorous, but as a commander it's very meaningful.

The IDF International Media Branch

Another thing that makes this role so unique is the immediacy and diversity, the constant sense of urgency - there are many things that are "here and now" and your personal actions directly affect operational moves and things that happen on the ground. The role is also very diverse - you deal with digital and traditional media, with public diplomacy, interviews, dialogue, you are a commander, you are a manager, you are part of the management of the IDF Spokesperson Unit, combine all of these aspects together and you get a job which is very challenging and fascinating.

In this job I grew thicker skin. I am leaving this position having had very significant insights about life, the IDF, the State of Israel, and myself. Overall - I gained a lot.

Is there a special message you would like to convey to the world, or the media, as your service comes to an end?

My message to the world - I think injustice is done to the IDF and the State of Israel - there are quite a few things to look at in relation to the international media, and there are two things I would like to change in working with international media - one related to cause and effect, and one more chronological - The two are related to each other.

Many times I want to explain that the cause and effect and the chronological order regarding operational events in relation to the IDF is the opposite - to the detriment of the State of Israel and to the detriment of the IDF. For example, if there is an attempted terror attack or rocket fire at Israeli civilians, and Israel responds - the story that is told in the media begins with the Israeli activity, not the cause. So the issue of cause and effect is not presented fairly and correctly through the international media. In the end, you, the international community, create a situation where if one only relies on what is written in the headline, or the broadcast news, or a website article, they may think that Israel is the one that initiated the violence, instead of the truth which is that Israel many times is responding to attacks from our enemies.

Lt. Col. Conricus in a strategic briefing 

In addition, regarding the chronological aspect, it is necessary to reflect a true timeline, not one that is convenient for reinforceing the Palestinian narrative, but rather what actually happened. I see that many times the media falls for this narrative. For whatever reason, the world holds the IDF to different standards than any other military. In the end, there is a standard for militaries in battle- from international coalitions in the Middle East and elsewhere, and then there are the standards set for the State of Israel. And the standards are uneven and are almost impossible to abide by. 

For example - in the last operation we reached an unprecedented achievement thanks to very, very, very, precise activity of the Israeli Air Force- this activity was intelligence-based and command-oriented in achieving the lowest possible number of not combatant casualties in Gaza. But in the end, when we compare this effort to other militaries, certainly any military of a sovereign state fighting a terrorist organization within a densely populated civilian territory - the outcome achieved by the IDF was unprecedented. And although we have achieved such an incredible feat; of many terrorists killed with relatively few civilian collaterals, the wave of criticism continues to grow towards the IDF and the State of Israel.

I am in favor of criticism, I am in favor of having an external oversight that criticizes what the army does unequivocally. We live in a democratic state, and that's how it should be - a free society that must be preserved - certainly in regards to the Israeli and international media. But, I feel that after four years, many eager are to criticize the IDF, usually according to a set of impossible criteria not applied to other militaries. The media criticizes Israel and does not check the chronological order of events, or what was the cause leading to the effect. They immediately rush to blame the IDF. The injustice to Israel is done time and time again when the international media does not reflect an accurate picture to the world.

You're finishing your service so close to the end of Operation ‘Guardian of the Walls’, is this something you believe is for better or for worse?

Operation ‘Guardian of the Walls’  was a very successful IDF operation in which the IDF was able to defend itself effectively and make the terrorist organizations in Gaza pay a heavy price. What needs to be done now is to complete the operation in strategic moves in order to bring about a long-term achievement. The IDF as a military fulfilled its mission - to defend and secure Israeli civilians, and to prevent enemy efforts while making the enemy pay for their actions. For me, it was an unprecedented and powerful experience and an example for the weight and significance of the responsibility that rests on the shoulders of the International Spokesperson during operational activity.

Lt. Col. Conricus live during Operation Guardian of the Walls 

Are there any moments from your service you would like to share with us? Any special moments?

I think one meaningful moment I will take with me is a memory from the 2017 International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the UN, as an Israeli officer seconded to the UN. It was a very moving ceremony, in front of a full session of the UN General Assembly. I am the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, the late Daniel Bornstein, who grew up in Oswiecim where the Germans built the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. My grandfather and his sister were the sole survivors of the war. The rest of my grandfather's family were murdered. For me to attend the ceremony, to participate as a representative of the IDF within the UN, was a truly meaningful experience.

A photo from the International Holocaust Memorial Ceremony at the UN

I will also take with me many more empowering moments from my service. From the first encounters with enemies in Lebanon, to operations in Gaza, and a multitude of meetings with officers from foreign militaries, especially with the Americans. The American officers I worked with were, for me, a window that opened up to the world. Through these meetings I was able to understand the strategic importance of the alliance between Israel and the United States. This importance is reflected at the strategic, political, and military level. I think this alliance is a tremendous asset that I got to experience through exercises with the Marines as a platoon commander, as a forgein relations officers, as a military diplomat, and finally in working as a Spokesperson with my American partners. 

The second thread that connects us is the mutual sense of partnership, values, interests, and courage. This connection is also a very important asset to which I also relate to American Jewry. I think that the connection between Israeli Jews and American Jews is a tremendous asset that must be preserved and strengthened. To this extent, the activity of the Public Diplomacy Office, which is under the branch I command, is absolutely pivotal. 

I'll give you an exclusive ‘scoop’ on another meaningful experience - I'm the only officer in the IDF who corrected fire for a Syrian artillery battery. This was a truly exceptional event from the summer of 2014, just before I traveled to the UN headquarters. At the time it was common that Syrian rebels would attack UN outposts, and UN personnel were taken captive if they had not previously evacuated.

Lt. Col. Conricus during his position in the UN

In order to prevent Syrian rebels from using the UN infrastructure against the Syrian Army, the Syrians and the UN sought to bomb the post. I was sitting in the Divisional HQ, watching through a camera that was on the fence in the direction of the post, on the phone with the UNDOF liaison officer, who spoke on the other side with the Syrian liaison officer, who spoke with an artillery battery commander in Syria who was about 15 km from the border inside of Syria.

Because I am an infantry officer, and I know how to spot and correct artillery fire, I directed six shells from the Syrian battery towards the UN position. In the end, they achieved the goal, and the Syrian battery destroyed the UN position at the request of the UN. I thought it was a pretty interesting event, compared to the Syrian officer who did not like it so much that an Israeli officer had directed the fire. This is a special and unique experience that only I have had as a soldier in the IDF.

I am sure it wasn’t always easy throughout your service. Can you share with us some of the less desirable moments you had?

Unfortunately, there are many. In the end, being an IDF commander, especially a combat commander is a job with a lot of responsibility. The responsibility usually meets you at the beginning of the road, in the field, when you are a direct commander of soldiers. The Givati ​​Brigade where I served also fought in the security zone which was my first operational experience. Following this is almost five years of continuous and intense fighting in the Gaza Strip until the IDF disengagement. A lot of terrorists were killed during these operations. Unfortunately, we also sustained of casualties. Friends, commanders, and many soldiers were wounded or killed.

The connection between this position and my current position is clear to me, which is why it was important for me that the next International Spokesperson would be someone who also came from the field. Someone who is first and foremost a fighter, who is an officer that is connected to the operational world. An officer with this experience and knowledge can speak of the IDF's activities by virtue of personal experience and by virtue of a personal example. He can say “I was there as a combat soldier” or “as a pilot” in our case. It is our moral right to accurately represent an army that, at the end of the day, is a combat organization.

As a military man, you have put your life in danger multiple times for the sake of the State of Israel. As a family man, did it not worry you?

When I was a company commander, I was married. When my eldest daughter was born I was still in the field. But the truth is, I always believed that I was protected and safe. I knew I had to lead my soldiers by personal example.

Lt. Col. Conricus receiving his rank from his wife, 2017

If your military career was a movie, in which the credits are beginning to roll - who are the people you would acknowledge in the subtitles, the people you would thank?

Usually, the acknowledgments are placed at the end of the movie, but in my case, they should be played in the beginning. Every military man in the country or in the world, if he or she is married, knows that it is not possible to maintain the demanding life that the army requires without the full support of one’s spouse. Without this support the job is impossible. So the first thanks would be to my wife and to my children. My wife and I have been walking this path together for 17 years. This last role, which was neither as a warrior or an operative in front of an enemy, was but just as intense and the responsibility was immense. My success was made possible thanks to my wife’s support. 

Of course, the next thanks would be to my parents who supported, developed, and educated me. Next would come to the commanders who trusted me including both former IDF Spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis and former IDF Spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Hidai Zilberman. The next thanks would be to the senior commanders and my colleagues in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit who taught and helped me throughout my time in the unit. But as I said at the beginning, a very significant thanks to be played at the end would be dedicated to the soldiers, past and present, in the International Media Branch - they created the actual content.

 My final acknowledgments in the credits would be to those who we have sadly lost. The soldiers, commanders, and non-combatants who unfortunately fell in battle have shaped me as a soldier, a combatant, and commander. Those who shared this long ride with me will also be thanked. I will not elaborate out of concern that I will forget and insult someone. But to the countless colleagues and friends who have helped and supported me, who have pushed me forward along this long journey, thank you.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus addressing
the 2020 AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington D.C 

Is there any final message you would like to share?

This was a unique final role for me to play. I'm not sure it has a counterpart in other militaries in terms of its magnitude of influence and international prominence. The reason is that the international media is here in Israel and continuously covers Israel with a high level of interest. The "story" told about Israel in the international media is many times centered on the IDF - I wish the story was about Israeli high-tech, science, social developments, spirit, culture... My wish is that in a few years this would be the primary story coming out of Israel, Israeli achievement, not the IDF. But until then, the role of the International Spokesperson is distinct and necessary in this aspect.

To conclude, I will say that I am very happy with the choice of the next International Spokesperson, Lt Col. Amnon Shefler, who comes with the right set of skills for the job to march the branch forward. I am very satisfied with the selection and pleased with how the transition has been facilitated. I wish success to the IDF, and this, this is the great story - that the IDF will continue to protect this wonderful thing called the State of Israel. That the IDF will continue to be a successful organization in the face of its enemies. That the IDF will improve, learn, and evolve with the goal of constantly getting better day by day.