Ha'aretz

Sun., May 08, 2005 Nisan 29, 5765

Israel seeks PR help for image makeover

By Akiva Eldar

Israeli missions abroad and the Foreign Ministry are hoping to "re-brand" Israel by focusing less on the regional conflict and more on Israel's achievements in science, culture and other areas. In cooperation with the Advertisers Association, the foreign and finance ministries and the Prime Minister's Office have started drafting PR firms, associations and business people in efforts to find a new branding for Israel in keeping with commercial PR and marketing models.

The move was decided on following an analysis of findings from a study carried out by the Wunderman marketing research institute, a division of the well-known American firm Young and Rubicam. The company specializes in studying brandings, among them of countries wishing to improve their image.

The study, which was presented today at a PR seminar at Bar-Ilan University, shows that for most most Americans, the Arab-Israeli conflict is losing relevance. They are experiencing information overload on the subject and a concomitant loss of sympathy for Israel. The Foreign Ministry's PR chiefs have taken up the suggestion of the study's author, David Sable, who toured the separation fence recently, that they stop trying to counter the Palestinians' claims that the fence impairs everyday life.

Instead, they will be focusing on Israel's contributions in technology, medicine, culture and other fields. The Foreign Ministry will be sending scientists, business people and artists to the U.S. and other countries to further the new approach.

The problem with this is Israel has nothing much to brag about.

When an Israeli is a member of a team, no matter how large, any accomplishment by that team is reported in Israel as the accomplishment of the Israelis. Often the team is not even mentioned but if it is there is rarely any other information such as names unless Jewish and then not their nationality. It is the small town boy makes good syndrome. The small town boy makes the major league and every victory is reported as though the local boy were completely responsible.

Israel also reports the "Israeli connection" to anything which sounds good no matter how tenuous. A few years ago a data compression algorithm used to return photos from Mars was reported. It seems it was developed by a non-Israeli, non-Jew who some twenty years earlier took a graduate course from a non-Israeli Jew. The focus of the article was a jewish Israeli who had also taken a course from that same professor. But a quick read of the article gave the impression the Israeli had developed the algorithm when he had nothing to do with it.

And lastly the well known and very open secret in the community. Israel has an extensive network of military and industrial espionage around the world. And it is all motivated by the "jewish" connection. This is so open Ha'aretz often refers to it without "exposing" it explicitly. So even its military R&D accomplishments are tainted by the likelihood of espionage.

Page reads: 21829