Israel: A Linkage to the Spanish-Speaking Communities in the U.S.
The Jewish Post of New York, April 2001
" For many years Israel has developed, especially in New York City, a linkage to the African-American community in this country. It was a smart, fruitful move. Its epiphany is the annual Israeli official celebration of the Martin Luther King memorial day. It looks like Israel has ignored the new dynamic in the U.S.: The rising of Latino-Spanish communities ... The reality should be challenged by building a new infrastructure of Israeli-Latino-Spanish relationships ... The first step will be the launching of an annual Israeli-Latino-Spanish Solidarity Day ... This launching of a Solidarity Day will be only the first step in a project which will target the Spanish speaking people in this country. It will be a new chapter of mutual positive 'people to people' relationships between Israel, Jews and this world of Spanish ethnicity in America."

Israel Turns to P.R. Firm for Makeover Amid Violence.
Miami Herald [from the Baltimore Sun], July 29, 2001
"They have worked with Weight Watchers, the New York Yankees and the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. Now the experts at Rubenstein Associates, a public relations company, are taking on a new client: the state of Israel, which hopes to spruce up its image in the deadly conflict with the Palestinians ... But Palestinian officials and young boys interviewed at the Ayosh Junction in the West Bank town of Ramallah, one place singled out by Rubenstein as a problem area, say the proposals prove Israel would rather save face than lives. ``If they want to look better, they have to stop shooting,'' said Nabil Abu Rdeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat."

New PR Directive: Stress Ties to the Land. Jerusalem Post, August 7, 2001
"Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday conducted his first intensive meeting on Israel's public relations policies since taking office, meeting for more than two hours at his Jerusalem residence with top officials in the Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office. Sharon was quoted as telling the meeting that Israel should make a point of emphasizing the Jewish right to the land, because it is too often forgotten ... Based on suggestions by Howard J. Rubenstein Associates, the firm Israel hired in New York, the government has already begun to increase the representation of women in its PR campaigns and limit the usage of IDF speakers in uniform."

New Assault Is Launched in War for Public Opinion.
JTA [Jewish Telegraphic Agency], March 13, 2001
"The Palestinians may not be winning the war for American public opinion, but Israeli diplomats and American Jews are still forging ahead with efforts to augment Israeli 'hasbarah' – a uniquely Hebrew term that falls somewhere between explanation and propaganda. The Israeli government recently took the unusual step of contracting two prominent American public-relations firms – Rubenstein Associates and Morris, Carrick & Guma – on a three-month trial basis. More controversially, a handful of Jewish mega-donors has created a think tank they hope will generate long-term strategies for presenting Israel in a favorable light ... American Jewish leaders say international condemnation of Israel during the past half-year of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed has made a stronger P.R. effort necessary ... Enter the new think tank – 'Emet,' the Hebrew word for truth. Spearheading the project is Leonard Abramson, the Philadelphia-based founder of U.S. Healthcare, along with philanthropist Michael Steinhardt and World Jewish Congress President Edgar Bronfman. The group consulted with Hoenlein, Foxman and other Jewish activists – and only then notified Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Foxman said. American donors are expected to provide $7 million for the think tank, with another $1 million requested from the Foreign Ministry, according to reports."

Yisrael Ba'aliya Joins Forces with Democrats, Republicans,
Jerusalem Post, November 23, 2001
"Yisrael Ba'aliya has now formed a new alliance with two larger, more influential parties: the Democrats and the Republicans. The local [Israeli] chapters of Democrats Abroad and Republicans Abroad have come together with the Yisrael Ba'aliya Israel Citizens' Information Council, a project of the immigrant party's 'Anglo Department,' in an effort to impact American policy toward Israel ... Democrats Abroad and Republicans Abroad, organizations whose primary role is registering Americans in Israel to vote by absentee, act as vehicles for their members to express political views and try to influence American policy ... Yisrael Ba'aliya director-general Eli Kazhdan said the petition is a natural fit for his party, which has many voters who have moved from America and care deeply about both Israel and the US. 'We don't see it as interfering with American policy,' Kazhdan said. 'It's not politicians who are doing this. It's grassroots people who have dual citizenship'."

Israel's War of Words Gets Dirty,
Palestine Solidarity Campaign (from The Independent - Great Britain),
April 14, 2002
"Joel is a reserve captain in the Israeli army. He has a warm handshake and a line in rapid-fire patter that betrays his New York upbringing. He introduces himself as a 'military source', but it swiftly emerges that he is a headline machine, churning out slurs. Joel is in the front line of a multi-million dollar propaganda drive by the Israeli government to try to prevent an international backlash over its military invasion into Palestinian-run parts of the occupied West Bank. They face their toughest challenge yet: limiting the damage to Israel over the atrocities committed in the Jenin refugee camp, where its army has killed and injured hundreds of Palestinians. In a newly opened Israeli government media centre in Jerusalem, Joel was looking for journalists to make his pitch. We cut straight to the question of Jenin. 'Believe me, we would love to let you guys into Jenin, but unlike the Palestinian terrorists, we respect the dignity of the dead,' he said. 'They want to gather up the bodies and show them off to the international media as evidence of a massacre ­ that is typical of the sort of PR tricks they play.' The press was also not being allowed into Jenin because of the 'abundance of terrorists' looking for 'Western targets'. The Israeli army has frequently shot at journalists, injuring more than 40 and killing one. Suddenly, it was concerned for our safety. A journalist himself, Joel seems to know all about 'PR tricks'. Asked why the Israeli army is refusing to allow ambulances from the International Committee of the Red Cross to enter the camp and evacuate the wounded, he urged The Independent on Sunday to investigate. 'You are on to a good story there. Go to the Red Cross and find out if they are using drivers from Sweden, or Palestinians.' The propaganda war between the Israelis and Palestinians has always been a dirty business, but now it has sunk to new depths. Israel's media centre issued a statement boasting of 'countless examples' of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. This will be staggering news to the Red Cross and Red Crescent, who have been barred from entry, shot at and repeatedly humiliated, all in violation of the Geneva Convention."