MK Michael Eitan, considered the Knesset\'s Internet expert, led a special session this week on Israel\'s public-relations presence on the Internet. The MKs discussed ways to intensify Israel’s efforts in this field and provide an adequate response to the thousands of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel sites on the Internet. Guests at the session included members of the “Al Yisrael” volunteer organization, created by academics and intellectuals specifically for this problem, as well as Internet experts and representatives of the Foreign Ministry, the Prime Minister’s Office, the IDF, Israel Police, the Jewish Agency and others.
Speakers presented a sorry picture of a plethora of virulently anti-Israel sites operating in several languages, while pro-Israel sites are fewer and are generally limited to Hebrew and English. (Arutz-7\'s website and e-mail reports appear in Hebrew, English, French, and Russian.) It was agreed that intensive action must be taken to increase the number of sites capable of promoting Israeli interests, improve existing sites, and enable existing sites to figure prominently on various search engines.
Speakers presented a sorry picture of a plethora of virulently anti-Israel sites operating in several languages, while pro-Israel sites are fewer and are generally limited to Hebrew and English. (Arutz-7\'s website and e-mail reports appear in Hebrew, English, French, and Russian.) It was agreed that intensive action must be taken to increase the number of sites capable of promoting Israeli interests, improve existing sites, and enable existing sites to figure prominently on various search engines.