ISRAEL: Trying classic, digital and celebrity diplomacy
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The Palestinian plan to ask the United Nations for statehood recognition has preoccupied Israel’s leaders and news media for months, making ‘September’ a code word for trouble ahead. Public officials have sounded dire warnings, each with a metaphor describing what awaits, including ‘tsunami’ (Defense Minister Ehud Barak), ‘iceberg’ (lawmaker Isaac Herzog) and ‘wall’ (President Shimon Peres).
Last-minute efforts continue to reach a compromise that could keep Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from making what some commentators call a game-changing move, and spare the U.S. from resorting to exercising its veto power in the Security Council. One way or another other, ‘September’ is here.
If classic diplomacy has limits, there’s always Internet diplomacy. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon is one of the country’s most social-media-minded officials. This summer he posted on the Web a video titled ‘The Israel-Palestinian Conflict: The Truth About The Peace Process.’ It gained plenty of views but not so much traction.
Now lay practitioners of hasbara, or public outreach, are joining the ranks of the digital diplomats. The latest video making the rounds to illustrate Israel’s position is ‘Israel Wants Peace - Friend Request Pending’ (above). We’re in a Facebook era, ‘like’ it or not. Not everyone will agree with the video’s message but most will understand its language.
While Netanyahu intends to present ‘Israel’s truth’ at the U.N., clever Internet presentations try to show Israel’s softer face. And just for fun (and for art, for art!) mass-nude photographer Spencer Tunick showed some other parts over the weekend.
Joining the classic and the digital, there’s ‘celebrity diplomacy’ too.
The America’s Voices in Israel program brings media and entertainment personalities to Israel for first-hand experiences, sight-seeing and briefings with government officials, to see for themselves and spread the word back home that Israel’s a country, not just a conflict. Actor Miguel Ferrer, a member of the program’s latest delegation, said he’d commit to offering positive messages on behalf of the people of Israel. ‘Twilight’ star Kellan Lutz, visiting for the second time, noted that people are ‘not really informed’ about Israel.
-- Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusalem.
Video: ‘Israel Wants Peace- Friend Request Pending.’ Credit: YouTube
Photo: Kellan Lutz, left, Miguel Ferrer, Carolina La O and Didier Hernendez visiting Jerusalem. Credit: Yissachar Ruas