By Kevin McCauley
The Government of Israel has yanked a cable and billboard ad campaign that urged Israelis living in the U.S. to return to Israel.
Critics of the Hebrew ads from the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption said the effort “implied that moving to America led to assimilation and an erosion of Jewish consciousness,” according to the Dec. 3 New York Times.
Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, blasted the ads as “heavy-handed and demeaning.”
One spot shows an elderly couple upset that their granddaughter confuses Hanukkah with Christmas.
New York PR counselor Ron Torossian calls the campaign “Israel’s worst PR move.” In an op-ed piece published by The Algemeiner, Torossion wrote: “Israel has repeatedly made stupid and ineffectual public relations moves over the years, but this week’s series of advertisements really takes the cake.”
The 5W PR chief knows many Israelis who experience “some level of guilt over living in the Diaspora,” but they “read Israeli papers, generally speak Hebrew at home and are quite connected to their country.”
Though the message of the campaign is “understandable, the world does not necessarily have to view our private ‘family’ discussions,” according to Torossian who will speak at an “Israel and the Media” event co-sponsored by The Algemeiner Dec. 15 at New York’s Fifth Ave. Synagogue.
Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the ads, which had been running for a couple of months, pulled Dec. 2 following a blog criticism of the campaign by Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic.
Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., read a statement to Goldberg that said:
“ Prime minister Netanyahu, once made aware of the campaign, ordered the videos immediately removed from YouTube, and he ordered that the billboards be removed as well.”
The Ministry for Immigrant Absorption told the Times that it “respects and cherishes the American Jewish community” and apologizes to anyone offended by the campaign.
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