Israeli officials are the first to recognize that two important battlefields in the ongoing mini war with the Arabs are the international media and world opinion. But Israel\'s efforts in this field are lacking. In 1999, the English department of the Government Press Office numbered 8 full-time workers who churned out press releases explaining the government\'s position on current events. But when Ehud Barak was elected Prime Minister in May, 1999, the work force at the GPO\'s English division was slashed to one worker. Ariel Sharon subsequently added one other employer.



English press releases at the office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, were recently discontinued after poor translations caused embarrassment to Israeli officials. Hebrew terms chosen to describe IDF actions against Arab militants such as \"self-defense\" and \"interception,\" were replaced with \"assassinations\" by the English writing staff. \"Occupied territories\" was used to describe the historically Jewish areas of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.



The International Jewish student\'s organization Yavneh Olami is organizing a conference for students to assist Israel\'s PR effort in the Diaspora. In coordination with government bodies, participants from 12 countries and over 25 different universities will gather from August 16-19, 2001 for four days in Jerusalem to learn how to present Israel\'s positions in the context of the ongoing Rosh Hashanah Arab Assault.