Vision to Reality: The Reut Blog

Could utilizing the personal networks of Israel’s large Diaspora help stem the tide of de-legitimacy?

The Israeli political system currently lacks a comprehensive response to a global movement – growing in scope and influence – that seeks to undermine Israel’s legitimacy.

Such a response would offer a multi-pronged approach tailored to the diverse arenas – such as academia, NGOs, campuses, and the media – in which the de-legitimacy dynamic is being played out.

One of the strategic components that should be emphasized is based on the notion of relationship-based engagement, predicated on the potentially significant impact of personal relationships – within vast bureaucracies or in relation to key influential individuals – in setting the tone regarding ties to Israel (such personal relationships prevented a ‘boycott’ of Israeli basketball games during the Intifada even while football games scheduled to take place in Israel were called off for security reasons).

One possible approach to relationship-based engagement is to empower an informal public diplomacy network, based on the role Israelis abroad can play in building and leveraging personal relationships in a range of arenas.

In their recent Haaretz article, Nir Cohen and Israeli Pupko draw attention to the many ways in which Israelis living abroad – many of whom have attained positions of influence in the worlds of academia, business and culture – can be tapped as an asset to Israel.

Cohen and Pupko focus on the knowledge that can be imported by this well-placed network, but the concept can also be applicable to harnessing the “soft power” of the estimated 500,000 and 750,000 Israelis that reside abroad permanently.