Over 200 heads of local councils, administrators, spokespeople and public relations people participated on Monday in the 2012 Yesha Conference for Advocacy and Communications. The conference was sponsored by the Yesha Council's advocacy department.
Among the speakers in the conference were the head of the Yesha Council Danny Dayan, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, Channel 2 News Vice President Hilik Sharir, Channel 2 News’ Arab Affairs commentator Ehud Yaari and Yesha Council Spokesman Roni Arzi.
During the conference, Yesha Council Deputy Director Yigal Dilmoni presented informational materials produced by the Council for the conference, including a new website which explains all the data and facts about Judea and Samaria.
The conference, explained Miri Maoz Ovadia, foreign desk liaison for the Binyamin Council and Yesha Council, “is all about advocacy, giving the public different tools how to speak to the media, to use the media and the journalists and the foreign press, to pass over our views and to show the everyday reality in Judea and Samaria.”
She added that while, in the past, Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria chose not to speak with the media, that changed following the 2005 disengagement from Gaza, when they realized that the hearts of the general public in Israel were not with the residents of Gaza.
“There was a change [after the disengagement]. We decided to open the houses of people all around the communities of Judea and Samaria, to welcome the press inside, to take on tours diplomats and people who have a lot of influence on how the public feels about the situation,” said Ovadia.
“You can see that there has been a positive change and people have more acquaintance today with Judea and Samaria,” she added. “When you think of a ‘settler’, it’s no longer a scary person who takes over private lands and murders Palestinians. They’re normal people who live normal lives all around Judea and Samaria.