Crafting Israel’s Image

David Saranga: Branding’s a beach.

by Sharon Udasin

With the appointment of a new Israeli tourism minister, a debate is taking shape about how best to market the Jewish state. Stas Misezhnikov, of the Israel Beiteinu party, wants to revamp the previous administration’s strategy of promoting Israel as primarily “sunshine, beach and beautiful girls” and instead focus more on “history, religion and culture.” Here in New York, however, the man most responsible for changing Israel’s image is David Saranga, who is completing his four-year tenure next month as consul for media and public affairs at the Israeli Consulate. As his term winds down, Saranga, a Foreign Ministry diplomat, sits down with The Jewish Week to discuss Israel’s branding progress.

Q: Misezhnikov says that Israel should concentrate on acquainting visitors with culture rather than beaches. Some of your rebranding tactics have involved Tel Aviv beaches and beautiful Israeli models. How do you react to Misezhnikov’s ideas? Continue reading…
A:One doesn’t contradict the other. Our branding efforts of making people understand what Israel is all about are not only for tourist purposes.