Hotoveli Opens Up Hasbara to Israel's Friends Around the World

Israel's Foreign ministry is moving the Hasbara war up a notch with the announcement of an international video clip competition about Israel. The winner will be picked to represent the Jewish State in cyberspace.

Hasbara refers to public relations efforts to disseminate positive information about the State of Israel and its policies. The term is used by the Israeli government and its supporters to describe efforts to explain and promote Israel in the face of negative press, and to counter the delegitimization of Israel around the world.

According to a ministry press release, the competition includes two categories, one popular, for every Tom, Dick and Harry, Jennifer, Nancy and Kimberly with a smartphone; the other for professional videomakers. The clips should be short and will deal with predetermined topics, such as Jerusalem and Palestinian propaganda lies. The winners will saturate the social networks, at least until the next competition.

At the conclusion of the competition there will be a festive ceremony at the ministry, where they'll declare the winner and hand out the money prizes.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotoveli said in a statement that this would be an opportunity for citizens to actively participate in Hasbara. "Since the beginning of my service at the foreign ministry I've been meeting many Israelis who wish to contribute to the Hasbara effort, and this is the first time that we're recruiting anyone wishing to contribute. I think it's an opportunity for many Israeli citizens as well as friends of Israel in the world to use their talent in order to change the world discourse and help improve Israel's standing."