By David Harris

Israel has announced it is dispatching senior government ministers and a former diplomat on a public relations (PR) exercise to the United States. From time to time Israel launches media blitzes, but ask any pro-Israel activists overseas and they will tell you they are in no way impressed by the country's PR machine.

The announcement was made Sunday by the colorful and controversial Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Four government ministers, along with Israel's deputy foreign minister and a former consul-general to New York have been charged with spending time in the U.S. explaining Israel's diplomatic policies. On the completion of their work at the end of October more officials will be sent on the same mission.

Israel has identified 15 American cities where it believes it can influence public opinion. The representatives will meet key officials, make media appearances, speak in closed-door sessions with news editors and opinion writers, address university audiences among many other activities.

Damage-limitation exercise

Israel already enjoys high approval rating in the U.S. and sees Washington as its key ally overseas. Public opinion in Latin America, Europe and elsewhere is far less sympathetic towards the Israeli narrative, yet Lieberman has decided to specifically target the United States.

The move comes after weeks of bad press for Israel following its very public row with Washington over its settlement-building policy in the West Bank. The Obama administration is demanding a freeze on all construction work. While agreement is reported to be close, there has been increased criticism of Israel in the U.S. and the normally united pro-Israel lobby has shown divisions in recent months over the settlements issue.

"There's a real need to explain... that Arab aggression towards Israel started prior to the establishment of the first settlement and even prior to the creation of the state," Israeli Foreign Ministry reported Lieberman as saying to some of his PR ambassadors.

Other messages they will be trying to get across include Israel 's claim that it is interested in peace and that Israel's conflicts with the Palestinians and the Arab world are not about Jews versus Arabs but rather a part of the wider battle between moderates and extremists.

Israel is not PR-savvy

This campaign is in no way original. Israel has tried many PR exercises over the years, with limited success. Having tried the subtle approach, in recent years Israel has gone for a more 'in- your face' style, even encouraging Maxim magazine to publish a photo spread on "sexy" female soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces.

Throwing big bucks at advertising campaigns simply doesn't work in the United Kingdom (UK) for example, according to Jerry Lewis, a seasoned journalist who acts as the vice president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the official representative body of British Jewry.

The perceived weakness of official Israeli PR has led to a plethora of private organizations setting up shop in Israel and overseas to try to defend Israel in the media. The Israel Project (TIP), Media Central, Israel 21C and others bring journalists to Israel, offer lectures with top officials and write articles for publication overseas.

TIP believes Israel has made vast strides in improving its PR effort but still needs support given that Israel always appears to be at the center of world attention.

"The fact is that there are 450 foreign journalists based in Israel, which is such a small country, who need information on time, credible and information that they can use in their work, and that 's why you need these organizations," said Marcus Sheff, the executive director of the Israel office of TIP.

In the UK, the Britain Israel Communications and Research Center is attempting to work behind the scenes with journalists to offer what they believe is a balanced view of Israel, or what outsiders would describe as a pro-Israeli narrative.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews is also launching a pro- Israeli PR arm.

According to Lewis, who says Israel is often represented poorly in the media getting a bad press on its policies, today one or two government representatives are exceptionally good -- ambassador to London Ron Prosor and government spokesman Mark Regev.

However, he said on the whole Israel has never known how to cope with the simple one word message of the Palestinians -- " occupation."

"There were years of neglect (towards public relations) and poor quality spokesmen who simply know it all and don't have the ability to express themselves or Israel's case cogently or clearly, " Lewis said on Wednesday, adding that Israeli policies do not always help.

"The best way to improve Israeli PR is to actually change the policy rather than trying to explain bad policies," said Mike Dahan, an expert in communications and society at Sapir College in southern Israel.

Government officials in Israel and leaders of Jewish communities overseas often say they have to deal with a hostile media. They offer myriad reasons why they believe much of the media is "anti-Israel" -- from old-fashioned anti-Semitism to the Palestinian success in sticking to a single message for more than 40 years.

"Unfortunately there has been a tendency for many to adapt very monochromatic viewpoints. The lack of media coverage of recent widespread killing of Palestinians by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is a prime example -- what would have been the media reaction if Israel had been responsible for the deaths?" said an Israeli government official who asked not to be named.

The view in the international community is very different. Israeli PR is "heavy-handed with a tendency to be hysterical and to overly rely on allegations of anti-Semitism, which are losing their effect," a foreign diplomat told Xinhua.

"Rather than invest in expensive PR campaigns, Israel would do better to reduce those points of friction that give it an increasingly negative image," added the diplomat.

Spreading Israel's PR wings

While the U.S. and Europe have always been Israel's key targets, given their dominance in the international community, Lieberman believes it is increasingly important to engage nations in other parts of the world too. As if to underline that Lieberman set out for Africa on Wednesday.

He is accompanied on the trip by 20 Israeli business people as he makes scheduled stops in Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda.

Two months ago Lieberman was in South America to improve relations with countries in a continent that is currently strengthening ties with both the Arab world and, more significantly for Israel, with Iran.

"For many years Israel has been absent from entire regions," Lieberman said on the eve of his departure for Africa.

One major problem besetting Lieberman's vision of a new direction in Israeli PR is a lack of resources. Repeated budget cuts in recent years have led to wholesale reductions in Israel's overseas presence, with embassies and consuls closing their doors in many of the more exotic locations.

When money is tight, the ministry has to reassess its priorities. As a result, Israel focuses heavily on PR work in Europe and the U.S., knowing they are the most influential of international powers.

However, as analysts question the efficacy of Israel's PR machine, the country's spin doctors must ask themselves whether their limited budget is being spent in the right way and on the right messages.

(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2009)