Revealed: Israel’s new UK lobby

22 June 2006

By Jenni Frazer, Bernard Josephs and Simon Rocker

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Stung by claims that they are not doing enough to improve Israel’s image, British Jewish organisations are to launch a united campaign to combat what they say is a “growing threat” to the Jewish state’s legitimacy.

On Wednesday, the board of Bicom, the British Israel Communications and Research Centre, agreed a multi-million pound action plan to be carried out over the next three years through existing organisations engaged in pro-Israel advocacy. These include the Jewish Leadership Council, the Community Security Trust and all three major political Friends of Israel groups.

Bicom chief executive Daniel Shek told the JC: “There’s a growing feeling that something more fundamental is being challenged by Israel’s enemies and detractors in this country, which goes to the heart of Israel’s legitimacy.

“Legitimacy is an image thing. It’s not that it was never there before – but I think it is consistently moving from the fringes of the political and public debate in this country towards the centre, towards the mainstream.”

Mr Shek said that the challenge took many forms, from the recent controversial Guardian articles comparing Israel to apartheid-era South Africa, to the attempted academic boycotts of Israel or think-tank debates on the nature of Zionism. “All these things are symptoms of more or less the same thing, where people, beyond the day-to-day criticism of what Israel does, are beginning to take aim at what Israel is. That is a big change.”

Pro-Israel organisations have agreed to put a new emphasis on promoting Israel.

Bicom’s chairman, Poju Zabludowicz, commented: “In addition to our policy of creating a better understanding of the Middle East, we must also now focus on educating Britain’s leaders about the importance of the shared values between both countries. We hope that our plans will set an agenda for the entire pro-Israel community.”

Jeremy Newmark, chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, said the campaign should be “an important communal priority.” It was, he said, a welcome development at a time of an upsurge in attempts to demonise Israel. The JLC’s role, he added, “will be one of strategic oversight, ensuring that communal organisations work collaboratively, harnessing their individual strengths and expertise, to deliver the most effective results.”

A CST spokesman expressed support for the initiative, saying: “This comes at a time when a wave of hostility towards Israel directly affects anti-semitism.”

At the heart of the Bicom-led project is a 150-page document which sets out a number of principles and themes which pro-Israel organisations will be asked to include in their work. Mr Shek said the general theme “is based on shared values between Israel and Britain.” It is hoped to change perceptions about Israel by promoting aspects with which the British public can easily identify – such as environmental issues, hi-tech innovations and medical advances. This did not, he noted, exempt Bicom and other organisations from the need to deal with current-affairs crises as and when they occurred.

Mr Shek added: “There seems to be unanimity that the debate has shifted, and that the response has to shift, too.

“There also seems to be unanimity on a collaborative inclusive effort by all those who care, under the umbrella of the pro-Israel community in this country.”

Although the project was conceived with notionally unlimited funding, Bicom has narrowed the budget to allow for yearly polls and surveys which will measure the success or failure of the campaign. “Clearly, there are financial implications,” Mr Shek said, “and since this is a community-wide project, the finance will also have to be addressed collaboratively. We will have two layers of co-ordination and co-operation – the lay leadership and the professionals. It is not intended to meddle in each other’s day-to-day business.”

Board of Deputies director-general Jon Benjamin said that after seeing a presentation of the new strategy, the Board welcomed Bicom’s lead.

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His mission: to sell Israel’s story to the UK

22 June 2006

By Jenni Frazer

It has taken him nearly two years, but at last Daniel Shek, the softly-spoken urbane chief executive of Bicom, is making some headway in turning around the good ship Anglo-Jewry, gently steering the Jewish community towards a different, and, he hopes, better and more effective defence of Israel.

The former Israeli Foreign Ministry diplomat, who took up his post in the autumn of 2004, is himself a former journalist as well as a so-called “diplomat’s brat” – his late father was an Israeli ambassador. So he is well used both to diplomatic niceties and the demands of the media.

Shek’s trademark since his arrival has been to change the image of Israel by pushing what might be termed “soft” stories to the foreground. Prominent on the walls of the Bicom boardroom is a tabloid front page featuring the London woman who “married” a dolphin in Eilat – although sadly, the dolphin died this week. Other triumphs were the “positive spin” news stories which followed a 2004 visit to Newcastle by a predominantly Arab Israeli football team for an unexpected Uefa Cup fixture. If, says Shek, “there is a valuable news story – and it has to be valuable, not for Israel, but in its own right – it will work.”

For the last four months, the 10-strong Bicom team has been hammering out a new strategy for the community on how better to present Israel’s image. The initiative, says Shek, was born out of “a growing feeling that something more fundamental is being challenged by Israel’s enemies and detractors in this country which goes to the heart of Israel’s legitimacy.”

Beyond the day-to-day criticisms of what Israel does, says Shek, “people are beginning to take aim at what Israel is. That is a big change.”

A Bicom board member put it best, suggests Shek. “He said, if you have a beautiful flower and you want to plant it in your garden, it won’t make your garden look nicer if the earth is poisoned. It won’t work; the flower won’t grow. We’re having increasing problems with the quality of the earth in this country.

“Can we fix it? I’m not sure, that’s the challenge. Can we address it? Absolutely. That is something that Bicom wants to put to the entire pro-Israel community in this country. That is what we have been working on for the last few months. I want this to be very clear, it is not a Bicom project. It is a project for the pro-Israel and the Jewish community. What Bicom has suggested should be done [is] based on a lot of work and research – this [he points to a 150-page document] is the fruit of it.

“This sets an agenda, that’s all it does. It’s a Bicom-led project in the sense that we felt that there was a need to address this long-term campaign strategy. It covers three years, but I think that’s being modest, because obviously this will last longer. It’s a Bicom-led suggestion for which – I say with joy – we have sought, and by and large received assurances from, most of the core pro-Israel organisations, including the JLC (Jewish Leadership Council) and the Community Security Trust.

“It is the first time in years that we might be at the beginning of a collaborative pro-Israel action which is long-term, not just a quick response to a crisis situation. This goes much further.”

Emphasising that the project is not designed to replace the present work of organisations, Shek notes: “The division of labour is not according to who speaks to whom, but what you speak about. Basically, the general theme of this campaign, and there’s still a lot of work in developing the details, is based on the notion of shared values between Israel and the UK.”

The idea of shared values, says Shek, “takes you away from the news cycle and into areas that are not simply political.”

He anticipates the new strategy

allowing cross-communal organisations to put over messages about Israel’s business world, or its expertise in water conservation or in limiting environmental damage.

“Basically, we’re giving themes which we think in the long run – and none of this is measurable in the short-term – will hopefully rejuvenate some of the more fundamental elements of the recognition of the legitimacy of Israel. We want to revive the unquestionable presence of Israel as a democratic society which is a sister society to the UK. It’s an open, democratic, pluralistic, Western-oriented value system like the one which exists here.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lessons from foreign lobbies

22 June 2006

By Joseph Millis, Bill Gladstone

THE controversial American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) – termed by friend and foe alike as “the 900-pound gorilla on Capitol Hill” – is the most public face of pro-Israel lobbying in the US.

It was set up in 1951 by Isaiah (Si) Kenen, a former political reporter from Cleveland, Ohio.

The New York Times has called Aipac, which enjoys enviable access to the President, the Vice- President and other senior Administration officials, “the most important organisation affecting America’s relationship with Israel.”

Through more than 2,000 meetings with members of Congress, at home and in Washington, Aipac activists help pass more than 100 pro-Israel legislative initiatives each year.

Its members are involved in the most crucial issues facing Israel – from procuring $2.46 billion in aid for Israel’s security, to funding joint US-Israeli

efforts to build a defence against

unconventional weapons.

Earlier this year, an article in the London Review of Books by Chicago University’s John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt of Harvard, pointed to Aipac ‘s links with an impressive array of influential organisations. The highly critical – and widely criticised – paper said that Aipac operates in near unison with several think-tanks, such as the Washington Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the neo-con Project for a New American Century, and others which share a common denominator: pro-Israel policies.

Other organisations, such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations and the American Jewish Committee, also carry the flame for Israel in Washington.

In Canada, when Israel receives unfair treatment, whether from a government official, business leader, trade union, university or media outlet, a number of Jewish organisations are quick to step up to set the record straight.

The country’s leading pro-Israel lobby, the Canada-Israel Committee (CIC), hosts a Parliamentary dinner in Ottawa every two years for between 1,200 and 2,000 guests. Chief executive Shimon Fogel calls it the “largest non-partisan event” in the nation’s capital.

The CIC also sponsors missions to Israel for politicians, business leaders and other VIPs. “We want the public to understand that it’s not criticism of Israel per se that we object to,” explained the organisation’s director, Leo Adler. “But we do object to unfair criticism, biased criticism, selective criticism, and the application of a double standard.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bicom: the highs and lows 23/06/2006 Good times

– Bicom experts have been allowed unprecedented access to the BBC to brief the corporation’s news staff on the Middle East.

– In Parliament and the printed and electronic media, its briefings are seen as an addition to the work of the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Friends of Israel groups.

– At the end of this month, the Financial Times is due to run a Special Report, “Investing in Israel,” the first of its kind for more than a decade.

– Bicom has sent reporters from student newspapers to visit Tel Aviv and Jerusalem during moves by lecturers to boycott Israeli universities.

Bad times

– Faced criticism for allegedly “failing to respond” to two lengthy Guardian articles earlier this year likening Israel to apartheid-era South Africa. “They were nowhere near dealing [effectively] with these,” said one senior Jewish communal figure, “and when they tried it was not impressive. Bicom has to raise its game.”

– There was concern at a perceived lack of response to media coverage of events such as the recent killing of Palestinian civilians on a Gaza beach and the divestment campaigns by some churches.

– Bicom’s critics maintain that it failed adequately to put over its pro-Israel agenda to the Jewish community. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Israel rebrands

22 June 2006

By

Strong backing for Bicom’s new campaign came this week from Israel’s Foreign Ministry, where a top official revealed that a similar effort was under way in Jerusalem to present the country in a positive light.

Gidon Meir, the ministry’s deputy director-general for media and public affairs, said that a task force, involving the Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Finance and Israel’s advertising industry, will aim to “rebrand” Israel.

Steering committees will be set up in Europe, America and Canada to ensure the global reach of the project. Major PR firms will also be invited to take part.

Telling the JC that Bicom’s plans should be “blessed,” Mr Meir said that the media were only covering the conflict, and were not putting it into context.

While violence could not be ignored, there was a failure to “cover Israel beyond the headlines. The media are not giving a fair hearing to the positive stories that we tell.”

Part of the rebranding, Mr Meir claimed, will be to do away with the familiar – and much-derided – Hebrew term hasbarah, which means “explanation.” The ministry’s information department is to be retitled the “Department of Public Diplomacy.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bicom: the rich and powerful

22 June 2006

By Simon Rocker

Next Thursday, the wine glasses will be glinting in the evening sunlight on a terrace by the Thames as more than 100 guests gather for Bicom’s first summer reception at the House of Lords. Welcoming them will be its chairman and main donor, Finnish-born billionaire Poju Zabludowicz.

Widely regarded as at the head of an emerging new wave of British-Jewish leaders, he is Bicom’s “main man,” according to one former Israel lobbyist: “He is a major asset to the community and highly under-rated.” Mr Zabludowicz heads the Tamares investment group, whose portfolio includes a large slice of downtown Las Vegas. With a personal fortune estimated at £2 billion by this year’s Sunday Times “Rich List,” he recently donated £15,000 to the David Cameron-led Conservatives.

Bicom’s deputy chairman and a driving force behind its new strategy is Michael Lewis, a South African emigre whose business interests run from retail and restaurants to biotechnology. He is also the UJIA’s campaign chairman.

Bicom’s 27-member board includes several familiar faces: Community Security Trust chairman Gerald Ronson, UJIA president Sir Trevor Chinn, and Lord Janner, as well as former UJIA chairman Brian Kerner.

Among others are Isaac Kaye, a veteran supporter of Israel, former UJIA chief executive Jonathan Kestenbaum, and Board of Deputies president Henry Grunwald.

Another name to watch is the vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Committee against Antisemitism, Trevor Pears, whose family foundation has become a major funder of Jewish causes.

Bicom has also secured the vital support of some major players in the financial world, among them Michael Sherwood, co-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs International, who took part in Bicom’s fundraising mission to Israel last year. Other participants with a previous Goldman Sachs link included husband and wife Ron Beller (now on the board) and Jennifer Moses. Also on the trip was Conservative Friends of Israel chairman Richard Harrington, and husband and wife Edward and Celia Atkin, who sold their business, the baby-bottle firm Cannon Avent, last year for ?300 million.

Guests on September’s US mission, who hope to meet Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, have been asked to pledge a “five-figure sum,” says one person invited.