Gal Gadot
Ambassador Arye Mekel (L), Consul General of Israel in New York, and 2004 Miss Israel winner Gal Gadot attends Maxim’s “Women of the Israeli Defense Forces” Celebration at Marquee June 19, 2007 in New York City. (Ray Tamarra/Getty )
A new public relations effort by Israel’s New York consulate wants the country known less for its conflict with the Palestinians or for its myriad holy sites than for its beautiful women in uniform. Or, more accurately, out of uniform.
A spread in the upcoming July issue of Maxim features a roster of Israeli models, all ex-soldiers, photographed wearing very little in the cause of their country. Headlined “Women of the Israel Defense Forces,” the campaign has already been criticized as inappropriate in Israel.
I’ve been seeing ads on television promoting Israel. Now we have the beautiful women of Israel being presented to the world. Israel is obviously on a public relations campaign. I can hardly blame them, they pretty much get slandered constantly in the most horrific ways by their muslim neighbors.
The palestinians kill families, take pictures of the bodies and then publicize that the Israelis murdered them. Sometimes showing us the same bodies over and over claiming they have been killed in all sorts of different ways and places. The Israelis, on the other hand, do a sophisticated ad campaign that says, ‘hey, we are like you and this is a great place to live in spite of the fact we have violent murderous psychopaths as neighbors.’ (Those are my words not theirs).
The idea originated in the media office at Israel’s consulate in New York, where research showed that Israel meant little to young American men.
“Males that age have no feeling toward Israel one way or another, and we view that as a problem, so we came up with an idea that would be appealing to them,” said David Dorfman, a media adviser at the consulate.
Maxim’s popularity with that demographic led to the partnership.
This whole thing has not gone over well with Colette Avital. She was Israel’s consul-general in New York during the 1990s. She admits that Israel has a public relations problem but is angry they are using ‘half-naked women’ as a solution to that problem. She says there are plenty of creative ways to solve Israel’s problems without resorting to ‘pornography’.
I thought Gal Gadot’s reaction to Ms. Avital was well stated. She said that is part of what is beautiful about Israel, they are democracy and have the right to differing opinions.
Their murderous psychopathic neighbors will certainly be offended. But then, they are offended by Israel’s very existence.
Gal Gadot - Photo
full coverage of Gal’s visit to New York City and the Maxim 5 page spread of the “sexy women of the IDF” is in the State Of Israel Official Blog - http://www.isrealli.org.
check it out and leave your opinion about our project with Maxim.
This woman is beautiful, inside and out. If she offends the Muslims, good for her. I heard her interviewed on Fox, and what she said was so intelligent, thoughtful, and on target.