Public Diplomacy

Resources:

I want to fight for Israel. Why won’t anyone let me? by Giada Condello, The Times of Israel, February 20, 2024

I could work to help sway opinion in my country of origin if only there was a shred of effective Israeli PR there and elsewhere abroad.

How the Jews Can Fight (and Even Win) the Global Communication War by Gary Wexler, Jewish Journal, January 3, 2024

Our enemies have proven to be masterful winners in this Communication War, and we are again proving to be the losers, employing the same old strategies that led us, over years, into this disastrous position.

The Israel Paradox: There’s Good News and Bad News by Joanna Landau, Jewdicious, November 28, 2023

The journey ahead demands a profound re-evaluation and analysis of the emotional currents shaping the perceptions of Israel in the hearts and minds of the next generation of Americans.

Israel’s PR battle: How to alter the Hamas war narrative and win hearts by Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman, The Jerusalem Post, November 24, 2023

It’s time to unequivocally articulate the atrocities Israel endured sparking the war with Hamas and Gaza and to be unapologetic in expressing why we must take decisive action. [Quotes Frank Luntz]

Short-Form War by Scott Galloway, November 3, 2023

The new face of Israel’s public relations by Ruth Marks Eglash, Jewish Insider, August 15, 2022

Past events show how one public relations disaster can change the course of a military operation, Lior Haiat, head of Israel’s Public Diplomacy Directorate, told JI.

An Iron Dome for Social Media by Ari Ingel, Sapir, Spring 2022 (PDF)

Israel Wins the War of Ideas by Bret Stephens, Sapir, Winter 2022 (PDF)

Israel needs compelling stories, not just facts, to win the PR war by Gil Troy, The Jerusalem Post, January 4, 2022

The Most Legitimate State on Earth by Liel Leibovitz, Tablet, November 28, 2021

Israel is the model for the nation-state idea on which the current global order was founded. That’s why opponents of the idea see it as a target.

Israel’s public diplomacy dilemma by Alan Baker, Israel Hayom, July 6, 2021 (also published in Jerusalem Issue Briefs Vol. 21, No. 8, June 29, 2021)

The unique challenges Israel faces, when accompanied by an inherent lack of fairness and integrity in global media coverage, has serious implications for the Jewish state.

This is the time for Zionist soundbites by Cherryl Smith, The Times of Israel, June 17, 2021

Changing the Focus of Israel Advocacy by Larry D. Weiss, The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 2,072, June 14, 2021

Those who advocate for Israel often take a defensive posture in response to endless attacks from advocates for the Palestinians. The debate focuses entirely on Israel’s perceived imperfections. Instead, pro-Israel advocates should take an offensive posture, shifting the focus of debate onto Palestinian behavior and holding Palestinian leaders accountable for their malfeasance.

The Precarious Future of Pro-Israel Activism by Andrew Silow-Carroll, The Times of Israel, May 27, 2021

The ‘mainstream’ is catching up to a younger Jewish generation growing increasingly skeptical of the Israeli government’s policies.

The lamb and the lion by David M. Weinberg, The Jerusalem Post, May 27, 2021

How to defend Israel: Do not claim victimhood or deny Israel’s power. After all, Israel is fighting Islamic jihadism just like the West.

How to halt the criminalization of Israel by Yossi Klein Halevi, Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2021

Why Israel should drop hasbarah by Simon Anholt, The Jewish Chronicle, October 19, 2020

How to Dismantle the Distorted Western Discourse on Israel by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief, Vol. 20 No. 19, September 7, 2020

Fighting the good fight in Europe by David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom, August 31, 2018

In crisis after crisis, Israel is losing the public relations war Is it winnable? by Noga Tarnopolsk, The Los Angeles Times, August 8, 2018 (see also response: If Israel Has Such Bad PR, Why Does It Remain So Popular? by Andrew Silow-Carroll, The Jewish Week, August 15, 2018)

Israel Is Losing the Social Media War by David Patrikarakos, Tablet, June 25, 2018

Why military supremacy is no longer enough for a Jewish state fighting on asymmetric fronts against non-state actors with the ability to shape public perceptions and war narratives; Israel loses the global information war because it does not “bleed” enough—and as long as it maintains its military advantage, it never will.

Reframing the Middle East narrative: my ten-point guide by Melanie Phillips, June 8, 2018

Baby Layla Shows What’s Wrong with Israel’s PR by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, June 1, 2018

Israel lost the PR battle over Gaza. Was it unwinnable or just mismanaged? by Judah Ari Gross, The Times of Israel, May 23, 2018

The IDF spokesperson is taking heavy flak for his handling of last week’s border clashes; some say he’s a scapegoat

When Good PR Means Dead Jews by David Suissa, Jewish Journal, May 22, 2018

Israel’s PR failure on Gaza border fence by Ron Ben-Yishai, YNetNews.com, May 17, 2018

While Hamas had full control over the images, footage and interviews from the ‘non-violent’ protests in the strip, the IDF spokesperson kept journalists at least 2 kilometers from the fence and released only several dozen unclear images and short clips from security cameras and quadcopters. It’s no wonder the Hamas narrative scored a clear victory in the global media.

Why Israel’s Emissaries Should Stop Trying to Reason with Millennials by Ron Katz, The Jerusalem Post, November 25, 2017

The appeals of Israel’s spokespersons are failing not because the facts they introduce lack social, ethical, or moral merit. They are failing because they are not connecting to millennial self-interest. [….] To the millennial world-view, it is preferable to ignore an underdog’s toxicity rather than embrace a top dog’s tenacity.

Worried about Jew-Baiters? Give it straight back to them! by Melanie Phillips, The Jerusalem Post, November 23, 2017

The Left should be accused of supporting colonialism by promoting the Palestinian goal of taking over another people’s country. It should be pilloried for endorsing racist ethnic cleansing by supporting a Palestinian agenda which declares that not one Jew would be left in a future state of Palestine.

Time for a New Hasbara Strategy by Mitchell Bard, The Times of Israel, September 11, 2017

Shut up and tell our story by Bryan Turkel, The Times of Israel, July 20, 2017

Simplicity, Divest This, July 17, 2017

Where Israel Advocacy Fails, and How It Can Succeed by Chloé Valdary, Mosaic, January 11, 2017

It’s not enough to respond to anti-Israel attacks. To reach the young, pro-Israel activists need to focus on what Israel is, on its human face.

Offense vs. Defense Revisited, Divest This, September 11, 2016

5 advocacy lessons I learned from Israelis by Aviva Klompas, The Times of Israel, June 30, 2016

Why Dueling Camps On Israel Need Each Other by David Bernstein, The Jewish Week, March 15, 2016

Being More Pro-Israel Than Israel Itself by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, March 3, 2016

How Israel will win the public diplomacy war by Dov Lipman, The Jerusalem Post, March 3, 2016

‘Israel is not isolated — it is highly sought after’ by Shlomo Cesana, Israel Hayom, January 8, 2016

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely knows that Israel’s standing in the international arena is very good: We are strong, independent and an island of stability; we just don’t know how to appreciate it • “Israel is in an age of prosperity,” she says.

Israel Must Tell Better Stories to Get the World on Its Side by Alexandra Markus, The Algemeiner, January 3, 2016

Can Israel Change Strategic Course? by Evelyn Gordon, September 26, 2015

Strategies for Israel, and those who love her by David Horovitz, The Times of Israel, September 22, 2015

What If We Stopped ‘Hasbarah’? by Daniel Gordis, The Jerusalem Post, August 13, 2015

You can’t win a PR war by fighting on the enemy’s side by Evelyn Gordon, The Jerusalem Post, June 11, 2015

What Israel can learn from the Eurovision song contest by Evelyn Gordon, The Jerusalem Post, June 3, 2015

Pro-Israel Advocacy: Out With The Old, In With The New by Ryan Bellerose, Israellycool.com, May 6, 2015

The Theory and Practice of Hasbara by Eric Rozenman, InFocus Quarterly Volume IX, No. 2, March 2015

Peace, the Grand Delusion of the Jews by Chloe Valdary, Tablet, March 18, 2015

At a time of turmoil, a crossroads for a people in search of justice

Failure and success in fighting against the delegitimization of Israel by Barry Shaw, The Jerusalem Post, December 5, 2014

Words matter: how vocabulary defines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by Jacob Kamaras, JNS.org, November 26, 2014

Israel needs a bigger message by David Suissa, Jewish Journal, November 24, 2014

Communicating the Truth about Israel by Frank Luntz, September 2014 (PDF)

Video: Melanie Phillips Calls For New Strategy to Present Israel’s Case (55’08”), Honest Reporting, August 31, 2014

Why Is Israel Losing a War It’s Winning? by Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic, July 27, 2014

Six reasons why Israel is on the back foot even as it wins the battle against rockets and tunnels.

Israel’s Supporters Must Stop Using These 13 Phrases by Lee S. Bender and Jerome R. Verlin, The Algemeiner, July 7, 2014

BDS is a Media War by Alex Margolin, Honest Reporting BackSpin, March 23, 2014

A Fresh Perspective: Time to fight back by Dan Illouz, The Jerusalem Post, March 16, 2014

As a ‘brand,’ peace and quiet trumps tech, says expert by David Shamah, The Times of Israel, March 2, 2014 (on the work and views of Israeli branding expert, Prof. Ram Herstein)

Reclaiming ridiculousness: The advocate’s guide to Israel Apartheid Week by Josh Benjamin, The Times of Israel, March 2, 2014

How to fix Israel’s broken public diplomacy effort by Evelyn Gordon, The Jerusalem Post, February 21, 2014

The problem with Hasbara by Imogen Pickup, The Times of Israel, February 16, 2014

Where can I sign up for a BDS marketing course? by Gary Wexler, The Jewish Journal, February 5, 2014

Losing the Propaganda War by Hirsh Goodman, The New York Times, January 31, 2014 (see also response: Warping Herzl’s legacy on legitimacy by Evelyn Gordon, Jerusalem Post, February 3, 2014)

Video: Speak Up for Israel 101 (21’19”) by Jerusalem U, January 28, 2014

Combatting BDS: A battleplan by Jonathan Rynhold, Times of Israel, December 30, 2013

Israel Outreach: Broad vs. Deep by Gary Rosenblatt, The Jewish Week, December 24, 2013

New public relations effort is clever, but superficial.

6 Ways to Change Israel’s Image: How to promote Israel using social media by Joshua Donner and Itzik Yarkoni, AISH.com, December 7, 2013

The Fatal Error of Neglecting the Narrative by Evelyn Gordon, The Jerusalem Post, November 18, 2013

“When opposition politicians, for instance, relentlessly attack Netanyahu as “anti-peace,” non-Israelis don’t realize this means “we share 90% of his positions, but think we could manage the talks better”; they think the opposition is agreeing with the Palestinians that Netanyahu’s positions are uniformly unacceptable. And the world therefore concludes that since even mainstream Israelis agree with the Palestinians, the latter must be right.”

Into the Fray: Dereliction of Duty by Martin Sherman, Jerusalem Post, October 25, 2013

Why does Israel keep losing the public diplomacy battle? by Dan Illouz, The Jerusalem Post, May 30, 2013

When artists scapegoat Israel by Ido Aharoni, The New York Post, June 19, 2013

The Winning Issues by David M. Weinberg, The Jerusalem Post, June 6, 2013 [see also related analysis by Evelyn Gordon]

A week with Norwegian friends of Israel taught me how to best present Israel’s case.

Former IDF Spokesman: Israel Needs Its Own ‘Al Jazeera’ TV (interview with MK Nachman Shai) by Mazal Mualem, Al-Monitor, April 17, 2013

Jerusalem’s Decreasing Isolation by Efraim Inbar, Middle East Quarterly, Spring 2013

Why Israel is Losing the PR War by Orit Arfa, Israel National News, March 4, 2013

IDF claims victory in Pillar of Defense social-media war: Social-media experts say official Israel effectively conveyed its narrative to unprecedented numbers by David Shamah, The Times of Israel, February 17, 2013

Reclaiming Israel’s left by Andre Oboler, The Jerusalem Post, January 1, 2013

The Media Front: Networks in the Service of Public Diplomacy by Owen Alterman, in “In the Aftermath of Operation Pillar of Defense, The Gaza Strip, November 2012,” Shlomo Brom (Ed.), The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) Memorandum No. 124, December 2012  [PDF, starts on p. 83]

The Consummate Public Diplomat [Yuli Edelstein] by David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom, November 23, 2012

6 Reasons Why Israel’s PR Sucks & What You Can Do About It by Neil Lazarus, The Times of Israel, August 3, 2012

In Defense of Israel Advocacy by David Bernstein, The Daily Beast/Open Zion, July 9, 2012

The Relegitimization of Israel and the Battle for the Mainstream Consensus by Joel Fishman, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs VI : 2 (2012)

If Israel intends to regain its legitimacy, it must advance its historical claims aggressively and forcefully. The Jewish State cannot permit others to define its identity or distort its past. It is necessary to discredit the fraudulent claims of the other side and expose its lies. Such an effort should include a long-term campaign of relegitimization. Israel must defend its sovereignty and take its rightful place in the community of nations. These are the responsibilities of nationhood.

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Israel’s new approach to hasbara by Natalie Menaged, The Times of Israel, April 17, 2012

The problem with going negative by David Bernstein, The Jerusalem Post, March 21, 2012

Truly proactive PR can’t just be about ‘peace’ by Evelyn Gordon, The Jerusalem Post, February 22, 2012

Israel committing no crime: Israel advocates need not avoid issue of our control of Judea and Samaria by David Ha’ivri, Ynetnews.com, January 10, 2012

The Narrative of Perpetual Palestinian Victimhood by Shelby Steele, Gatestone Institute, January 9, 2012

Letter to the Edinburgh University Students’ Association by Dr. Denis MacEoin, The JC, September 22, 2011

Israel’s Losing Diplomatic Strategy: Play Only Defense by Abraham Katsman, American Thinker, May 15, 2011

Jewish malware by Charles Jacobs, The Jerusalem Post, December 21, 2010

Israel’s PR War Needs Stuxnet by Phyllis Chesler, Israel National News, December 13, 2010

The Delegitimization Dance by Julie Wiener, The New York Jewish Week, November 20, 2010

The war on de-legitimization by Gerald M. Steinberg, Ynetnews.com, August 12, 2010

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Israel’s Minister of Public Diplomacy in a
special address to Israel Online Ambassadors

We need another army by Eitan Haber, Ynetnews.com, August 10, 2010 [“IDF isn’t enough in face of global de-legitimization campaign faced by Israel”]

Israel, get professionals! By Ronn Torossian, Ynetnews.com, July 22, 2010

The word according to Frank [an interview with Frank Luntz] by David Horowitz, The Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2010

Israel Through European Eyes by Yoram Hazony, Jerusalem Letters, July 14, 2010

As Israel’s image sinks, whither Israeli PR? by Leslie Susser , JTA, July 6, 2010

Israel’s “Lousy PR”, JINSA Report #1002, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, June 30, 2010

How Free Explains Israel’s Flotilla FAIL by Amir Mizroch, Wired, June 2, 2010

The Problem with Playing Defense by Noah Pollak, Commentary, June 3, 2010

Behind Brand Israel: Israel’s recent propaganda efforts by Ben White [A compilation and critique from “the other side”], The Electronic Intifada, February 23, 2010

Positive Views of Israel, Brought to You by Israelis by Ethan Bronner, The New York Times, February 17, 2010

Israel and the Tylenol Scare of ’82 by David Sable, The Jewish Week, January 26, 2010

Most Israeli diplomats know nothing about Jews or Zionism by Israel Harel, Haaretz, January 10, 2010

The “Soft Warfare” against Israel: Motives and Solution Levers [PDF], by Shmuel Bachar, Shmuel Bar and Rachel Machtiger, January 2010 [A Working Paper in Preparation for the Herzliya Conference 2010]

Winning the Battle of the Narrative [PDF], by Vera Michlin, January 2010 [A Working Paper in Preparation for the Herzliya Conference 2010, reporting on a debate among representatives of Israeli government and NGOs regarding the scope of Israel’s image challenge and the best ways to address it.]

Israel claims success in the PR war by Anshel Pfeffer, The Jewish Chronicle Online, December 31, 2008