Brand Israel

Brand Israel is a public relations campaign run by the Israeli government to improve the image of the State of Israel.[1] The goal of the campaign is to establish Israel as a cosmopolitan, progressive, Westernized and democratic society, contrasting it with the Islamic, homophobic and repressive surrounding nations.[2]

History

The Brand Israel campaign is a joint project of Israel's Foreign Ministry, Tourism Ministry and Strategic Affairs Ministry.[3]

Omar Barghouti, co-founder of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, argue that the Brand Israel campaign is designed explicitly to hide Israel's violations of human rights and international law under a guise of artistic and scientific glamour.[4] Israel's efforts to rebrand itself began unofficially in 2003 at the initiative of American business people and media experts. One advertising executive suggested that Israel's bad reputation in the U.S. stemmed from a lack of knowledge about the state. At the same time, the Foreign Ministry set up a new hasbara department to promote Israel's achievements and positive activities.[5] A brand survey from 2006 found that:[6] "Israel is the worst brand in the world ... Israel's brand is by a considerable margin the most negative we have ever measured ... If Israel's intention is to promote itself as a desirable place to live and invest in, the challenge appears to be a steep one." 52% of respondents in a BBC survey from 2012 thought that Israel had a negative influence on the world and a 2003 Gallup poll among EU citizens found that Israel was seen as the biggest threat to world security.[6] Israel has also, as a result of its policies against the Palestinians and the activities of the BDS movement, increasingly come to be associated with apartheid and war crimes.[7] Rhys Crilley and Ilan Manor predicted that the right-wing government would worsen Israel's reputation.[8]

The Brand Israel campaign was launched in 2005 and managed by Ido Aharoni at the Foreign Ministry.[9][10] A conference was convened in Tel Aviv in 2007 which kicked off the campaign with a four million dollar budget awarded to the Foreign Ministry and an eleven million dollar awarded to the Tourism Ministry. In 2010, the Foreign Ministry allocated more than 26 million dollars in branding for the coming years.[11]

Brand Israel's strategy is to use culture as the best form of propaganda and to promote Israeli culture overseas.[12]

Artists and writers sign a contract to receive state funding as part of the campaign. The contract stipulates that:[13] The service provider undertakes to act faithfully, responsibly and tirelessly to provide the Ministry with the highest professional services. The service provider is aware that the purpose of ordering services from him is to promote the policy interests of the State of Israel via culture and art, including contributing to creating a positive image for Israel. ...The service provider will not present himself as an agent, emissary and/or representative of the Ministry. ...The Ministry is entitled to terminate this contract, or a part thereof, immediately and at the Ministry’s sole discretion, if the service provider does not provide the Ministry with the services and/or does not fulfill his obligations under this contract ... and the service provider will make no claim, demand or suit based on the termination of the contract by the Ministry.

Activities

A Brand Israel campaign in July 2007 showcased scantily clad female soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces in the American men's magazine Maxim. Under headlines such as "The Chosen Ones," Maxim approvingly described the women as "drop-dead gorgeous and can take apart an Uzi in seconds."[14] The purpose was to show Israel in a context other than that of war.[15]

In 2008, Brand Israel staged a $1 million campaign in the Greater Toronto Area. The campaign featured ads highlighting Israeli medical developments and technology, including testimonials from patients who had benefited from Israeli medical innovations. It specifically targeted Toronto's Asian communities.[16] According to Israeli Consul General Amir Gissin, Toronto served as a test bed for the campaign.[17] Brand Israel was also present on the 2009 edition of Toronto International Film Festival. Ken Loach, Jane Fonda, David Byrne, and John Greyson condemned the festival's cooperation with Brand Israel.[18]

In 2010, Brand Israel launched "Out in Israel" in San Francisco, a month-long festival to showcase LGBT scene for Californians. As with the Maxim campaign, the stated aim was to show Israel in a context not related to politics or war. Another purpose was to counter negative perceptions stemming from the previous year's fatal gay centre shooting in Tel Aviv. Critics condemned it as a form of pinkwashing.[19][20]

In 2016, 26 Oscar-nominated celebrities were offered 10-day trips to Israel funded by the Israeli government, among them Leonardo DiCaprio, Sylvester Stallone, Mark Rylance, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, Matt Damon, and Kate Winslet. The Israeli Tourism Minister said that the celebrities were "leading opinion-formers who we are interested in hosting" who would get the chance to "experience the country first-hand".[21][22] According to media reports, the trip's value was about $55,000 each but Israeli officials said that it was only about $15,000 to $18,000.[21] Pro-Palestinian activists urged the celebrities to refuse to take the gift bags.[22] According to Catherine Rottenberg, not a single celebrity took advantage of the free trips.[23]

In 2017, the Israeli government sponsored free "Holy Land" tours for eleven National Football League players.[24] The Israeli Tourism Minister said that, by visiting Israel, the players would serve as "ambassadors of goodwill" and Strategic Affairs Minister, Gilad Erdan, that "hosting influencers and opinion-formers of international standing in different fields, including sport" was part of the fight against the BDS movement.[24] Six of the eleven players pulled out of the trip.[25] Michael Bennett who was one of the players who refused to go tweeted a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. and wrote that he wasn't aware that the purpose of the trip was to make him "in the words of a government official, an 'influencer and opinion-former' who would then be 'an ambassador of good will.'"[24][25]

The Round Tables Chef Series is an annual food festival in Tel Aviv sponsored by American Express in partnership with the Foreign Affairs Ministry which invites chefs from around the world. BDS activists have argued that Round Tables is part of the Brand Israel campaign to normalize its ongoing denial of Palestinian rights. In 2018 over 90 food industry professionals signed an open letter urging chefs to withdraw from the event.[26][27]

Crilley and Manor describes a branding strategy they call "un-nation branding" which they argue could serve as an alternative for Israeli entities. To avoid the state's tarnished reputation the entity downplay its associations with Israel.[28]

References

Citations
  1. Barghouti 2012, p. 34: The campaign, ... focused on a new plan to improve Israel's image abroad "by downplaying religion and avoiding any discussion of the conflict with the Palestinians." ... Arye Mekel, the deputy director general for cultural affairs in the Israeli foreign ministry, ...: “We will send well-known novelists and writers overseas, theater companies, exhibits. This way you show Israel’s prettier face, ...”
  2. Puar 2011, p. 133.
  3. Barghouti 2011, p. 122; Barghouti 2012, p. 34: The campaign, which was developed by the directors of Israel's three most powerful ministries,
  4. Barghouti 2011, p. 214.
  5. Shai 2018, p. 102.
  6. Crilley & Manor 2020, p. 143.
  7. Crilley & Manor 2020, pp. 143–4: Israel has also been accused of committing war crimes in the occupied territories and maintaining an apartheid state (Sussman 2004). This is a result of Israel's policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians, the framing of Israel in the media and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activities aimed at boycotting Israel.
  8. Crilley & Manor 2020, p. 144: Importantly, Israel's reputation may have become even poorer thanks to the activities of the right-wing government that has passed legislation relegating Arab Israelis to second-class citizens,
  9. Aked 2020, p. 53.
  10. Klein 2012, p. 35.
  11. Pappé 2018, pp. 247–8.
  12. Klein 2012, p. 35-6: Nissim Ben-Sheetrit, explained upon launching the Brand Israel campaign in 2005: “We are seeing culture as a hasbara [propaganda] tool of the first rank, and I do not differentiate between hasbara and culture.” ... Arye Mekel, ..., told the New York Times: “We will send well-known novelists and writers overseas, theater companies, exhibits. ...”
  13. Barghouti 2011, p. 124.
  14. Bouarrouj 2016.
  15. Bouarrouj 2016: “Israel is always mentioned in the context of war and terror…we’re trying to create a situation where you think about Israel in a different way.”
  16. Levy-Ajzenkopf 2008.
  17. Schulman 2012, p. 25.
  18. Walters 2009: Ken Loach, David Byrne and Jane Fonda among those condemning festival directors' choice of Tel Aviv for inaugural City-to-City Spotlight event ... Greyson cited Israeli action in Gaza and the expansion of illegal settlements as reasons for his withdrawal, ... His objection, he wrote, was not due to the individual titles being shown, but the festival's co-operation with the Israeli government's Brand Israel marketing push.
  19. Solomont 2010.
  20. Puar 2010.
  21. Steinberg 2016.
  22. Reuters 2016.
  23. Rottenberg 2017.
  24. Steinberg 2017.
  25. The Guardian 2017.
  26. Mastrianni 2018.
  27. Orlow 2018.
  28. Crilley & Manor 2020, p. 145.

Books
  • Klein, Naomi (2 May 2012). The Case for Sanctions Against Israel. Verso Books. ISBN 978-1-84467-450-3.
  • Barghouti, Omar (2 May 2012). "The Cultural Boycott: Israel vs. South Africa". In Naomi Klein (ed.). The Case for Sanctions Against Israel. Verso Books. ISBN 978-1-84467-450-3.
  • Pappé, Ilan (11 May 2018). Israel. Taylor & Francis. pp. 247–. ISBN 978-1-317-50062-9.
  • Crilley, Rhys; Manor, Ilan (11 July 2020). "Un-nation Branding: The Cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in Israeli Soft Power". In Sohaela Amiri; Efe Sevin (eds.). City Diplomacy: Current Trends and Future Prospects. Springer Nature. pp. 143–. ISBN 978-3-030-45615-3.
  • Barghouti, Omar (2011). BDS: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions : the Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights. Haymarket Books. ISBN 978-1-60846-114-1.
  • Shai, Nachman (1 April 2018). Hearts and Minds: Israel and the Battle for Public Opinion. SUNY Press. pp. 102–. ISBN 978-1-4384-6907-2.
  • Aked, Hilary (2020). "Whose University? Academic Freedom, Neoliberalism and the Rise of 'Israel Studies'". In Landy, D.; Lentin, R.; McCarthy, C. (eds.). Enforcing Silence: Academic Freedom, Palestine and the Criticism of Israel. Zed Books. ISBN 978-1-78699-653-4. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  • Puar, Jasbir (July 15, 2011). "Citation and Censorship: The Politics of Talking About the Sexual Politics of Israel". Feminist Legal Studies. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. 19 (2): 133–142. doi:10.1007/s10691-011-9176-3. ISSN 0966-3622. S2CID 146226310.
  • Ellison, Joy (2013). Recycled rhetoric: Brand Israel "pinkwashing" in historical context (MA thesis). DePaul University. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  • Schulman, Sarah (October 12, 2012). Israel/Palestine and the Queer International. Duke University Press. pp. 8–. ISBN 978-0-8223-5373-7.

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