Expert: Israeli PR improving, but...

Israel's much-maligned public relations efforts are improving but still need help, according to a top pollster who tracks Americans' attitudes toward Israel. At the Herzliya Conference Wednesday, he praised the Foreign Ministry for putting out the right message but attacked Israeli officials who fail to fall in line.

"The hasbara [public relations] effort is a lot better than it was three years ago," Frank Luntz told The Jerusalem Post following his presentation at the conference, sponsored by the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center.

Luntz has advised politicians including past and present New York mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg. He currently works with the Israel Project conducting polls and focus group sessions to help improve Israel's image in America.

"You can see a qualitative difference in the official statements of the Israeli government," he said. "They're faster now than they were three years ago." He continued, "The Foreign Ministry system works. My concern is with those who don't follow the system."

He criticized Israeli officials who "use the press to advance their political ideas," adding, "There are some politicians that use language that might work on an Israeli audience, but not with an American audience. They don't think. I want them to listen to the Foreign Ministry on hasbara, because they'll get it right if they do."

Gideon Meir, deputy director for media and public affairs at the Foreign Ministry, also said there's been a "change for the better," referring to "better cooperation between the Prime Minister's Office, the police, the Shin Bet [Israel Security Agency], and even the IDF." Still, he said, some officials haven't accepted that "public diplomacy is part of Israel's public security."

Luntz concurred that, "In the battle of the media, it is a war," and during his presentation attacked the government for use of harmful language and imagery.

"You are actually, by the language you are using, encouraging people to oppose you and to find Israel more militant. I don't understand why the army spokespeople in this country appear in uniform, when it only emphasizes the fact that Israel is a military power," he said.

"Language is everything," according to Luntz, who called on the government to strike the word "incitement" from its vocabulary.

"What the heck is the problem with Israel, with Israelis and spokespeople who use words that Americans do not understand, do not comprehend, and they don't internalize?" He suggested using the term "culture of hatred" instead, and that the disengagement plan be referred to as "voluntary" or a "first step" instead of unilateral.

"For 20 years the world has been asking you to do this. Under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon you actually did what the world community and the Palestinians have asked for, yet you talk about it being unilateral so the world condemns you for it."