The Israeli Government's Mad Men
Amy Levin: They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Well, that’s debatable. Due to a recent Israeli government-sponsored television ad campaign meant to persuade Israeli ex-pats living in America to return “home,” the geo-political sea between Jewish Americans and Israelis may be expanding, and Moses won’t be here to part it.
In response to the vitriolic condemnation of the ads which were said to offend both American Jews and Israelis, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu suspended the ads, which had circulated on Israeli television and American media outlets.
The ads were launched by Israel’s Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, featuring culturally salient themes – namely, that Israelis loose their Israeli identity in the assimilating nature of America. In one advertisement (watch here), a young Israeli woman returns to her apartment with her American (debatebly Jewish, more on this later) boyfriend who sees her Yom Hazikaron (Israel Remembrance Day) candle and embarrassingly (for his girlfriend, and me for that matter) misinterprets the candle as a “heated” gesture. Waw-wawww. Continue Reading →