ISRAEL'S FOREIGN MINISTRY: Less Palestinians, More Iran, Facebook and Twitter

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (above) is currently mulling plans to shift his office’s international outreach away from solving the endless Palestinian problem and focusing far more attention on…yes…Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

The move comes as part of a proposed overhaul of Israel’s Foreign Ministry in an effort to restore Israel’s sorely battered image abroad.

To do this, Lieberman’s team — which met secretly in a Jerusalem hotel last week — would dedicate its diplomatic efforts to two key areas:

The first is raising awareness of the “Iran Threat” by creating a specially-funded Foreign Ministry department with millions of dollars at its disposal for public relations efforts against Iran via Israeli consulates/embassies abroad.

The second area involves embracing social media and branding in order to raise Israel’s global profile. Specifically, Israeli diplomats would now be directly assigned to engage with the public/media via platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Youtube — areas where Israel’s New York Consulate has long had a major presence.

Indeed, the NYC Consulate was the first in the world with dedicated Youtube, Facebook and Myspace pages — and its media chief David Saranga famously held a press conference via Twitter last December at the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

Around the world, Israel would also (somewhat belatedly) beef up its presence in the so-called BRIC nations — with expanded embassies/consulates in Brazil, Russia, India and China. A budget for some 100 new diplomats has been approved and the entire scheme seems to be in go-mode.

Sadly, the secret meeting saw the Foreign Minstry concede defeat when it comes to solving Israel’s seemingly intractable issues with its Palestininan neighbors. Lieberman’s team appears to have given up on playing a constructive role in the Israel-Palestinian Peace Process — both at home and abroad — and is essentially handing over responsbility to Israel’s Defence Ministry and Security Services.

With its focus on armed conflict rather than dialogue and diplomacy, the notoriously anti-Arab Lieberman appears to be opening the door to even heavier-handed tactics with Israel’s Arab neighbors.

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