Israel Matzav: A Birthright for hasbara

A Birthright for hasbara

Michael Freund suggests that Birthright, which marks its tenth year on Thursday night, should have a separate trip to build support for Israel among Jewish decision-makers from abroad.

In this respect, it is time for Israel and its advocates to grab hold of this success and consider replicating Birthright's model not only as a means for reinvigorating Jewish identity, but also for building support for the Jewish state abroad. The government, working in partnership with Jewish organizations, should develop the equivalent of a hasbara Birthright program geared toward key decision-makers, both Jewish and non-Jewish, in the US, Europe and elsewhere.

The aim would be simple: to bring them here on a free trip for a week or 10 days so they can see and experience Israel beyond the headlines. There could be programs aimed at clergymen and jurists, prominent doctors, lawyers and scientists, and even sports stars and athletes, with each one tailored to their specific interests.

We need to show them that Israel is not Sparta. Just walking the streets, seeing the normalcy of daily life, with children going to school, cafés buzzing with young couples and beaches lined with bathers could be enough to begin tearing away at the stereotypes that the foreign media so readily promote.

Encountering the country up close would humanize it for many, profoundly affecting their view of the Jewish state, which is a message they would then spread far and wide.

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SURE, SUCH initiatives already exist in one form or another. The Foreign Ministry, for example, arranges visits here by journalists and dignitaries, and a number of Jewish groups periodically bring over delegations of congressmen and community leaders. But there is no central coordinating body, and no overriding strategy being applied in this area. That needs to change.

It might sound silly for a country to offer free trips to its shores at taxpayer expense. But this is the kind of program that will ultimately reap rewards far greater than the initial investment. It will boost tourism and encourage others to follow, and have a perceptible impact on Israel's standing abroad.

We need to stop focusing on countering every critical letter to the editor that appears in the Western press, and instead start bringing more people here in an organized fashion. As Birthright has shown, that may be the best possible remedy for our current hasbara woes.

I'm surprised we're not doing this already. Isn't this what all the Federation missions here are supposed to be doing? Or am I missing something?

Israel Matzav: A Birthright for hasbara