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Daniel "Danny" Seaman (born 1961) is an Israeli media professional and former civil servant, mainly active in the fields of foreign service and public diplomacy (hasbara).
Seaman was the bureau chief of Voice of Israel, a private Israeli English-language news and talk internet radio station that was created in 2014 and closed due to a lack of funding in 2015.
A veteran of the Israeli civil service, he retired in January 2014 after 31 years of duty. His last position was Deputy Director General for Information at the Israeli Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs. He formerly served as the director of the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO), part of the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem responsible for the foreign media contingent in Israel.
Biography
Seaman was born on a US Air Force base in Germany, the son of an American-born father and an Israeli-born mother. His family emigrated from the United States to Israel in 1971 and settled in the port city of Ashkelon.
He enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces serving in an elite paratroop unit in 1979 and is a veteran of the 1982 Lebanon War.
Between 1983 and 1989 he was employed by the Israeli consulate in New York. While there he completed a BA in political science, with honors, at the City University of New York's Hunter College.
Seaman served as an adviser and spokesperson to the governments of six prime ministers: Yitzhak Shamir, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ehud Barak.
Seaman was directly responsible for coordinating the press coverage of several heads of states visits to Israel including US President Bill Clinton, British prime minister Tony Blair, Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien, Australian prime minister John Howard, Jordan's King Hussein and Chinese president Jiang Zemin. He was a member of the Israeli press delegation to the Aqaba peace talks (see Road map for peace, Red Sea Summit in Aqaba, Jordan, June 4, 2003). Seaman received the Israel Outstanding Civil Service Award in 2000 for coordinating the international press coverage of Pope John Paul II's visit to the Holy Land in March 2000.
Seaman was appointed as acting director of the Government Press Office (GPO) in December 2000 and worked with thousands of foreign journalists who covered news events in Israel and the Palestinian territories until 2010. He had worked for the GPO for several years and was the first civil servant promoted to directorship of the GPO after a period of 30 years. During his tenure as GPO director he implemented several measures that improved working conditions for foreign journalists in Israel.
He took a leave of absence from his post in November 2008 and announced his candidacy in the Likud party primaries for the 18th Knesset, but withdrew his candidacy.
Seaman lectures on Israeli and Middle-Eastern affairs and appeared on dozens of international news media outlets.
Media and book coverage
- Seaman is mentioned extensively in Stephanie Gutmann's book The Other War—Israelis, Palestinians and the Struggle for Media Supremacy(October 2005). Chapter 10, "His Own Private Jihad," is specifically about his efforts to curb Palestinian influence on the media coverage.
- "Danny Seaman’s farewell voyage". Upon conclusion of his term as GPO director he gave an extensive interview to the editor of The Jerusalem Post, which was published on November 5, 2011.
- "Netanyahu’s social media director suspended," on Seaman's suspension, blogging faux-pas and future plans. The Jerusalem Post, August 16, 2013. .
Articles by Daniel Seaman
- "Palestinian industry of lies: Media manipulation has become strategic Arab weapon against Israel" - Ynetnews, May 29, 2008 .
- "Opposing the Digital Pogrom" - Responding to the foreign media's claim they are offended by their negative portrayal in a Ministry for Public Diplomacy’s campaign. The Jerusalem Post, March 4, 2010
References
- Amouyal, Noa; Frantzman, Seth J. (August 25, 2015). "Voice of Israel English-language radio closes after first year". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
- David Horovitz (5 November 2011). "Danny Seaman's farewell voyage". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 17 March 2015.