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New online portal for a global community dedicated to combating efforts to delegitimize and boycott Israel

JWR staff

By JWR staff

Published June 6, 2017

New online portal for a global community dedicated to combating efforts to delegitimize and boycott Israel

On Sunday June 4th, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan launched an unprecedented initiative to unify the activity of people around the world who are standing up for Israel, and combating the anti-Israel propaganda and de-legitimization being increasingly spread online.

Under the brand "4IL", the Ministry of Strategic Affairs launched a new website which includes videos, graphics, articles and other content. At the same time, the Israeli American Council and the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya launched the act.il app – which provides simple but effective online tasks for anyone who wishes to stand up for Israel. These tasks take less than two minutes a day to complete, but their impact is wide-ranging.

The 4IL global campaign was launched this week on Sunday June 4th in New York with a series of events, beginning at the annual CELEBRATE ISRAEL PARADE up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. The parade, hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY) first began in 1965 and this year marked the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem. The parade was led by Minister Erdan and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (pictured), and was attended by dignitaries including Members of Knesset, the Mayor of Jerusalem, senators and congressmen, alongside some 40,000 supporters of Israel who painted the avenue in blue and white. The official launching ceremony took place at the IAC’s Celebrate Israel Festival, while 4,000 participants from the Jewish-Israeli community collectively completed the first task of the campaign dedicated to the city of Jerusalem. The festivities came to an end at the IAC Dor Chadash Rooftop Party for Young Professionals during which Minister Erdan presented the campaign to the next generation of activists.

The campaign, which is being launched simultaneously in the USA, Israel and soon in Europe as well as in other countries, is aimed at creating an energized online community to combat the online lies, calls for boycotts and the de-legitimization of the State of Israel.

Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan: "The State of Israel is under constant attack by de-legitimizers working to demonize Israel online and undermine our legitimacy as the nation-state of the Jewish People. For this reason I am initiating an international effort to unite Israel's supporters around the globe and provide them with a platform that strengthens their activities, with tools that will help all of us fight hatred together, and with resources to spread the truth. As part of the campaign, we will provide Israel's supporters with videos, graphics, articles and content. Along with civil society initiatives such as the Act.il application developed by Israeli-American Council (IAC) and IDC students, we believe that this will be a game-changer in defending Israel online and around the world".

Since its establishment, the Ministry of Strategic Affairs has met dozens of public diplomacy organizations in Israel and around the world, which take an active part in civil pro-Israel activities. These organizations constitute a significant force in the pro-Israel network, and the aim of this campaign is to enhance their activities while providing Israel's supporters in Israel and around the world with materials and methods for defending Israel online.

The public diplomacy campaign will be led by Israel's former beauty queen, Titi Aynaw, and actress Ariel Mortman, star of the "Greenhouse" series, which is currently being filmed for a Netflix adaptation in the U.S. A video featuring Titi and Ariel in the United States and Israel will headline the campaign in encouragement to join the movement.

As part of the Ministry's encouragement of civil initiatives in the struggle against de-legitimization, a dedicated app will also be launched in New York. The app, initiated by the Israeli American Community (IAC), Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya (IDC) as well as Maccabis, was developed with a vision to create an international community which can take action online in, real time to defend the State of Israel.

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