HAFTR girls visit Israeli Consulate General in Manhattan

A select group of twelfth graders from Mr. Tuvia Book’s Zionism classes had the honor of visiting the Israeli Consulate General in Manhattan on Feb 26.

After going through airport-like security, we attended a seminar coordinated by Mr. Book with the Information Department of the Consulate. The first part of the seminar consisted of a private meeting with the Consul of Public Diplomacy, Gil Lainer, who discussed the Consulate’s efforts to reach out to the community at large and explained the effort put into portraying Israel positively in the non-Jewish community.

After a quick break for Israeli snacks, we heard from a few more speakers. Joseph Spitz, Director of Academic Affairs, discussed with us how he came to work at the Consulate, and how the Consulate works with various college campuses on advocacy for Israel by providing speakers, funding and ideas to the students. He also explained the atmosphere of hate against Jews and Israel on some of the more liberal campuses and what the Israeli Consulate and Israel advocacy organizations are doing to counter this and make the case for Israel.

Finally we heard from Jeremy Geller, a media expert, on how the Consulate uses social media to further its positive branding campaign. The last two presenters are both American Jews who work for the consulate and inspired us to think of the many ways we can help our homeland.