Sunday, May 28, 2017

The strongest shoulders should determine Israel’s media and aliyah policy


Asaf Shimoni, blogs.timesofisrael.com

Shimoni image from article
Excerpt:
Athough many thousands of Jews work relentlessy to improve Israel’s image, our homeland remains the most unpopular country on the planet. This could change if Israel were to expand its public broadcasting system.
Hasbara has become politicized
Hasbara has become politicized for the glorification of current government policies and politicians — not the country as a whole. The same holds true for aliyah. As far as attracting the seven million Jews in Western countries is concerned, funding is geared to attracting those who support the current government.
Israel could easily attract tens of thousands of Western olim a year. The Israeli population and the Immigration Ministry are extremely supportive of new olim and returning residents. ...
Employees tell their superiors what they want to hea
The many hundreds of qualified journalists who worked for decades and were unceremoniously dismissed have few prospects of work or a pension. Arrogance and paranoia reign supreme.
Israel’s social policies are now among the worst in the developed world while government employees continue to tell their superiors what they want to hear.
Hopefully policies concerning aliyah and the Israeli media will change before the arrival of the Messiah. Then Israel will attract more than an extremely small percentage of Western Jewry and Israeli journalists will have the opportunity to export Israeli culture. We must show the world that not everyone in Israel has lost touch with reality.

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