Selling Israel the right way
Op-ed: Instead of playing on emotions, Israel should appeal to expats with good jobs
Many years have passed since Yitzhak Rabin, may he rest in peace, insulted Israeli expats, referring to them as a “bunch of cowards.” Quite a few studies were dedicated to them, yet none of the statistics referred to the way one should address them with respect. However, it appears that Prime Minister Netanyahu could have easily avoided insulting them had he finally realized the real reason that prompted them to leave Israel.
The recent campaign ads focusing on the Israeli ethos and trying to tempt expats with crumbs of Memorial Day-style patriotism are the ultimate proof that someone in the Immigrant Absorption Ministry missed the point, big time.
Those who went to look for riches abroad would have done so in any case. Every generation has those who seek to get rich quickly. However, in the past 20 years we have seen a much graver and deeper phenomenon, known as “brain drain.”
The problem is that a brain that escapes westward takes the body and family along with it. Scientists, doctors, authors and artists are fleeing our country as if they were frightened mice on a sinking ship.
Moreover, we are not dealing with a bunch of lowly people. Rather, the opposite is true. These are the best of the best, our finest men and women and our finest children. They are fleeing because their talents and work are not being recognized and because they fear that they will not be able to support their families here. They are genuinely concerned that their amazing ability to develop and discover won’t grant them any kind of monetary or other reward.
Israeli food not enough
Government officials tasked with this mission would do well to replace the national feeling ads with an orderly plan for bringing the lost souls back home. The officials would do well if they understand that the target audience of these ads is not a bunch of crybabies who need a tissue, but rather, people whose only wish is to make a dignified living using their intellectual capacities.
These officials would do well if they come up with a long-term solution for bringing Israelis back to their country. A solution whereby all those returning will be rewarded with proper salaries, receive job guarantees, and most of all, be met with an intelligent attitude that does not insult the real reasons that prompted them to leave Israel to begin with.
Israeli food and Memorial Day candles are not good enough reasons to return to Israel. Those who think this is the right approach would ultimately be insulted by the fact that their ads are failing to secure their objective.
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