September 03, 2009

Israel trolls for Jews


The Prime Minister's Office and the Jewish Agency unveiled an aggressive advertisement campaign for the Masa project which is designed to strengthen Jewish identity among youths in the Diaspora and their bonds to Israel.
One video clip likens Jews who marry outside of the religion to missing persons, with fake notices and pictures which drive home the point.

As part of the campaign, similar "missing person" notices will be plastered on walls around the country.



(Turn on captions if you need)
Masa hopes the campaign will spur the public to commit to the cause of preventing marriage to non-Jews, which Jewish Agency officials believe is tantamount to a "strategic national threat."
According to figures compiled by the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, over 50 percent of Jews in the Diaspora marry a non-Jewish partner.

Studies show that Jews who participate in extensive programs in Israel deepen their Jewish identity and strengthen their bond to the country. Most of them marry Jews and send their children to Jewish schools and become politically and socially active on behalf of Israel-related causes. Some of them even immigrate to Israel.

The head of the campaign, Motti Scharf, compared assimilation to the critical water shortage. "Even though this is an existential problem, the public in Israel is displaying apathy towards it because the process is slow and not dramatic, out of sight," he said. "The time has come to put the issue on the table." (Haaretz)


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