There was a movie in 1985 called Brewster’s Millions, in which Richard Pryor played minor league pitcher Montgomery “Monty” Brewster, who accepted a challenge to spend $30 million in 30 days in order to inherit $300 million from his great uncle.
Thirty years later, new Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar finds himself in a similar place.
Once the state budget passes into law, Sa’ar will receive $150 million for Israeli public diplomacy – half of what Brewster won, but 20 times more than the pathetic amount the government previously allocated for this important cause.
The dare drove Brewster crazy. But I saw Sa’ar appear to rise up to the challenge at a meeting at the Foreign Ministry last week, in which he patiently listened to advice from representatives of more than 30 pro-Israel organizations. Sa’ar took notes, reacted, and frequently issued immediate directives to Foreign Ministry staff.
I had only three minutes to introduce HonestReporting and give my recommendations, which was not nearly enough time. Since then, I’ve spoken to current and former diplomats, influencers, and PR professionals, as well as the HonestReporting team, and have compiled this advice for the foreign minister on how to spend the money.
Dear Gideon,
We have known each other well for more than 20 years, from my time covering your political career for The Jerusalem Post to now at HonestReporting, which prides itself on being independent and not receiving a single shekel from the government.
Thank you for demanding a major boost in the budget for public diplomacy as a condition for joining the government. Politicians have different priorities, and the way in which Israel looks abroad has never been the kind of pork barrel a party has pushed for in the Jewish state.
The current war exposed the unique challenges Israel faces as a country of limited resources in a ten-front battle, under attack by Iran; its proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Judea and Samaria; anti-Israel activists on college campuses; and in the traditional and social media.
Israel was no more ready on the media battlefield than it was militarily on October 7, when Hamas murdered 1200 Israelis and began carrying out its plan to manipulate the international media. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not appoint an English-language government spokesperson before the war, and those he hired when it started got thrust into a desperate situation on the fly.
This budget is the first step toward correcting 77 years of mistakes in neglecting Israel’s effort to explain itself to the world, which is more important than ever. The hope is that this funding will continue for decades under your successors, so it has to be allocated correctly the first time.
10 allocations Gideon Sa'ar must fund in 2025
As the new year begins, these 10 important allocations should be funded:
1) A rapid response team of dozens of impressive government spokespeople in several languages, enabling availability for interviews 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to respond immediately to the news as it happens, when the iron is hot. One of the lessons of this war is that when Israel does not get the truth out fast enough to preempt incorrect reporting, it leads to antisemitism that could turn violent on campuses and in Jewish communities around the world. Pro-Israel organizations like HonestReporting have had to pick up the slack.
As I pointed out to Sa’ar, the identity of so-called journalists killed in Gaza that day who were really terrorists should have been provided to HonestReporting before we woke up so we could help expose them to the world.
The spokespeople can be based not just in Israel but at embassies and consulates around the world. But please make sure they are very diverse and not just white Ashkenazi, Jewish, middle-aged, straight men.
2) You yourself should interview regularly with media around the world who past foreign ministers have neglected. Your media blitz should get a clear message across, explaining the Israeli narrative and debunking the incorrect narrative of Israel's enemies. Your post comes with the authority and credibility needed to help change the way the world sees Israel.
3) When government spokespeople become superstars, don’t fire them, as happened with Eylon Levy. Let them shine and even give them bonuses. See which top-tier international media outlets send representatives and ask questions at regular press briefings depending on which spokesperson gives the briefing and keep using the ones who do a better job.
4) Please strengthen those embassies and consulates, where our diplomats have been doing holy work on an embarrassing shoestring budget. Significantly raise salaries of Foreign Ministry staff, including those stationed in Israel, in order to woo the best people and keep them. The diplomatic installations are Israel's boots on the ground and know how to localize Israel's public diplomacy effectively, but they are limited when they do not even have enough money to send its diplomats to the state next door. Additional funding would help them reach more future leaders in the flesh and impact their views before they become powerful.
Diplomats abroad should hold media outlets in their area accountable when watchdogs like HonestReporting reveal their staffers’ connections to terror.
5) Provide funding for a 24-hour English TV network, quasi-independent of the government, that will be pro-Israel but can criticize its decisions. The government shouldn’t be able to influence its content, just like it doesn’t with public broadcaster KAN in Hebrew. i24 owner Patrick Drahi devastatingly cut back his network’s English news significantly, exactly when it was needed, in favor of Hebrew news that was already being provided elsewhere. The government can step in and make sure online English news from Israel is here to stay and promoted properly to the Jewish communities and general audiences in America and around the world. Such a network could become a key source of information that pro-Israel advocates could trust and utilize effectively.
6) Use social media platforms to appeal to younger generations in multiple languages, the same way Qatar does with its online propaganda network AJ+. The Foreign Ministry runs its X/Twitter account effectively under its head of digital operations, Tamar Schwarzbard. More needs to be invested in Instagram, TikTok, and whatever platform is used by the next generation to reach out to them better than ever before. Tools like artificial intelligence that Israel's enemies have implemented could be utilized effectively for the cause of the Jewish state.
7) Provide intense training for all government officials connected with international audiences to help them understand how to speak differently than they do to their base in Israel and be ready for the hardest questions. This was suggested by media and communications consultant Linda Lovich, who works with government spokesmen and diplomats.
Lovich trained people in Kfar Aza to tell their stories, and wherever there are Israelis with important stories to tell, media training should be made available.
8) Support efforts to train pro-Israel advocates around the world as part of their education for their bar or bat mitzvot so they will be ready to be both proactive and reactive in favor of Israel at their high schools and colleges. Such training courses should be available for people of all ages. Hasbara starts at home. We need to train our kids so they will not shy away from hard truths. Efforts to teach Hebrew around the world should also be supported.
9) Develop a strategy for reclaiming the Israeli narrative that has been hijacked by its critics. As one activist popular on social media told Sa’ar at a meeting he convened with influencers: “Their narrative is unified and simplistic: ‘You are oppressing us, free Palestine.’ We are fragmented. We need to focus on what our narrative is and make sure we have the tools and resources to tell it.”
10) Continue using Israeli culture, sports, technology, and medicine to highlight the non-political faces of Israel. One official at an Israeli consulate in America said that one of their most effective programs last year was with an Israeli NASCAR driver. Be creative with which Israelis you send abroad.
These suggestions are, of course, just the tip of the iceberg, and I’m sure you’re getting plenty of advice. I hope the infrastructure you create will prepare Israel for the next inevitable public relations challenges and help ensure more success on the media battlefield.
Good luck,
Gil Hoffman
The writer is the executive director and executive editor of the pro-Israel media watchdog HonestReporting. He served as chief political correspondent and analyst of The Jerusalem Post for 24 years and has lectured about Israel in all 50 states.