Unfortunately, it seems Israelis just don't understand that the country is tainted by the images of these ultra-Orthodox Jews. There are people outside of Israel who know nothing about the demographics, but because the Haredim have such a high profile, as a result of their unusual appearance, people tend to think they represent real Israelis. That's why people are so misinformed as to what Israel is all about, and why they think it's a country full of religious fanatics. But that would be as ridiculous as thinking the Amish are a representation of the majority of Americans. So since ultra-Orthodox Jews are supposedly prohibited from being photographed, anyway, perhaps it's time to do Israel's image a favor and respect the sensibilities of these Haredim...and stop photographing them altogether.

the world doesn't see them as representatives of Israel, that's the half naked girl or a soldier pushing an old Palestinian woman. The world sees them as representatives of real jews, though.

This feeds into the Israeli steryotype that religion = haredi and also into the haredi view that only they qualify as the 'true religious jews'.