A couple weeks ago we reported Sheldon Adelson’s view that Israel’s image can be remade among the young and skeptical with a new initiative he’s involved with, Rethink Israel, where people would discover that Israel was doing lots of great things, like battling the problem of anorexic fashion models.
(Later, a J Street leader said that this initiative is “doomed to fail” because it ignores the Palestinian question at the heart of the conflict.)
Well, the picture above is the latest from Rethink Israel:
Natalie Portman flexin’ in #Israel circa 1995 #tbt pic.twitter.com/fxEtRSbD58
— reThink Israel (@reThink_Israel) November 21, 2013
I wonder if this is going to work…
Hat/tip Adam Horowitz.
Do they really think that tweeting pics of HasBarbies is going to make any difference?
it’s more likely to damage portman’s branding.
So the Hunchback of Notre Dame flex is gonna save israel?
I believe Adelson’s exact words were “the cavalry coming over the hill”.
The website will be a total flop. The reason is simple: the power of Israel is elite power. Campaign donations, favourable media coverage(which has less cachet in American culture than before since it has become so fragmented).
But to fundamentally change the image you need to capture the grassroots. And in an even contest, a Palestinian will crush any Zionist defending Apartheid.
Hell, Jewish Zionist groups don’t even want Jews to discuss the occupation, like the recently cancelled Avraham Burg speech(which he later had to move to a dorm) or that theater which had to close its play after donor pressure.
Take away this top-down pressure and what do you have?
Post-Birthright has Adelson been giving away his cash in a wise manner? The Romney bonanza was a disaster. This new website? Who even knows about it except people who are already pretty knowledgable about the conflict(and as such can’t be tricked by mere PR)?
Think about all that cash that could have gone to much better use. It’s crazy, and sad.
Naftali Bennet is saying the same thing: We can’t win with peace or arguments, so we have to work on our brand image!
In the post-ironic age, that’s cave man talk…