Israel’s New York Consulate will hold a “live citizen press conference” over Twitter on Tuesday hosted by David Saranga, consul for media and public affairs at the consulate.

Twitter is a free “micro-blogging” website that lets users report their moment-to-moment thoughts in “tweets,” or messages no longer than 140 characters. Friends can follow these tweets and respond to them. The service is particularly popular on hand-held devices such as cellphones and PDAs.

Twitter has been used in the past by aid agencies to convey real-time information during emergencies, and famously by NASA for daily updates on the discoveries of its Mars exploration rovers.

But the Tuesday event, to be held between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Israel time, is “the first time that a government is holding such a conference on Twitter,” the consulate said in a statement.

And that’s not all, the IDF has also launched a YouTube channel:

In the midst of its Gaza operations, the IDF is entering yet another conflict zone: the Internet. The Israeli army announced yesterday the creation of its own YouTube channel, through which it will disseminate footage of precision bombing operations in the Gaza Strip, as well as aid distribution and other footage of interest to the international community.

“The blogosphere and new media are another war zone,” said IDF Foreign Press Branch head Maj. Avital Leibovich. “We have to be relevant there.”

I can tell you personally, they seem to be gung-ho about this. I’ve been getting emails and links to videos as they are posting. It may have taken five years but Israel seems to be catching on…

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