In Israel, Press Kits Roll Out With Tanks
Even as the tanks rumbled into Ramallah this morning, Gideon Meir, Israel's deputy foreign minister for public affairs, was setting up a huge government information office in Jerusalem's Convention Center to provide daily briefings for the international press corps pouring in here. It was, he said, part of an emergency plan that had been developed over the last two months.

"We have had the experience of September 2000," Mr. Meir said, referring to the start of this period of conflict and the images of Israeli soldiers shooting at young people throwing rocks. "And we have learned from some of our mistakes."

This is a country obsessed with its image abroad, and public relations is regarded as a vital — and sometimes losing — part of the battle. The Hebrew word is hasbara, which literally means "explanation," but carries the connotation here of something like "information offensive."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/30/international/middleeast/30ARMY.html