JERUSALEM (VINnews)-New right-wing party leader and former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan said the government has abandoned the fight over Israel’s global image and called for an “army of hasbara” led by a public diplomacy “chief of staff.”

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Erdan made the remarks in an interview with The Jerusalem Post after announcing the launch of his new right-wing party. He said Israel needs a coordinated public diplomacy and public relations effort headed by a figure equivalent to the IDF chief of staff.

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“You need an army of hasbara (public diplomacy) and PR that would be led by ‘Ramatkal’ (IDF chief of staff) of hasbara,” Erdan said. “It never happened. You don’t have it. You have only one agency here, one agency there. You have few people with little money. They can’t fight with their arms tied behind their backs.”

He accused the government of neglecting one of the country’s most important battles. “The Israeli government abandoned maybe one of the most important battles that we were supposed to fight: the fight for the truth and the narrative,” Erdan said.

Erdan warned that the approach has contributed to declining support among American Democrats and younger Republicans. He said leaders of Turning Point USA told him Israel is “losing the young generation of the Republican Party.”

He described his own public diplomacy budget upon arriving at the U.N. as starting at $10,000 for activities in New York and argued that Israeli diplomatic missions lack sufficient resources for effective outreach. Erdan said he has a comprehensive plan to put Israel on the offensive in the narrative war and to better expose its adversaries.