In the frenetic world of Israeli hasbara (the public relations effort to portray Israel in a positive light), there are all sorts of agendas and campaigns. There are also many varied and innovative efforts along those lines.
It turns out highlighting innovation itself is one of the more powerful ways to advocate for the amazing Jewish state.
My friend Marcella Rosen and her team at Untold News have launched the terrific “Israel Is On It!” campaign, which raises awareness of Israel's major contributions to the environment, medicine, and technology.
Marcella has plenty of advertising experience, and a few years ago decided to put that experience to use in advocating for Israel. Untold News was thus born, and the group is now a go-to website for pro Israel advocates. The “Israel Is On It!” campaign is the latest effort, and in particular aims to reach the Millennial Generation. Since the launch in January, web traffic shows that more than 75 percent of the site’s visitors are under the age of 45!
Israel is in the forefront of efforts to provide clean drinking water, fine-tune medical procedures, and grow better food through agricultural processes. Consider just one example from the “Israel Is On It!” website:
“A colonoscopy is a vital procedure for detecting colon cancer, although it is less than perfect and more than uncomfortable. Endoscopy, too, is a key diagnostic tool. The problem is, the human gut is some 25 feet long, and endoscopy and colonoscopy are only able to show the two ends of the digestive tract. There are about 20 feet in the middle — the small intestine — that doctors have a hard time seeing. But now comes the PillCam, a pill-sized TV camera invented in Israel. This one-inch TV studio, when swallowed, travels through your intestines and beams back eight hours of images to your doctor. Clear pictures with little or no discomfort or need for anesthesia. It's easy, non-invasive, and remarkably effective.
“Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks about the PillCam and its power to diagnose Crohn's disease. This amazing invention is now available in three forms:
• The PillCam SB (small bowel) has been used over 3 million times worldwide.
• The PillCam COLON is approved for patients who've had incomplete colonoscopies.
• The PillCam ESO is a patient-friendly tool for visualizing the esophagus.
“Once again Israeli innovation goes a long way – through your intestines and across the globe.”
Check out the website and consider how you can help give this campaign the legs it deserves, and Israel deserves.