Consulate to Expand Information Service in Response to Mideast Geneva Conference Developments

The Israeli Consulate is launching a major expansion of its public relations and information efforts in the United States in response to recent developments in the Middle East and the Geneva peace conference, Israel Consul General David Rivlin said here. Speaking at a press conference Friday, Rivlin said the expanded program includes arranging a series of lectures and meetings for Israeli professors who will visit the United States to present to the American public the “Israeli side” of the conflict. He said about 10 such scholars will arrive here each month for that program.

Rivlin also reported that the public relations department of the Consulate in New York had been strengthened recently by the arrival of two former Israeli ambassadors–Hanan Inor who was Israel’s envoy to Ethiopia, and Amos Ginor, former envoy to Liberia. Rivlin said six more high-ranking diplomats whose services became available after African states ended diplomatic ties with Israel will join the new campaign at the Consulate here soon. He said Ginor and Inor will be seeking to strengthen ties with Jewish communities in the New York area.

He reported that the Consulate’s speakers bureau has been very active since the Yom Kippur War. He said that, on an average, the bureau provides speakers for more than 120 talks throughout the United States and for 400 lectures on college campuses each month. Rivlin also disclosed formation of an umbrella organization of Jewish organizations in New York City and the vicinity, the Metropolitan New York Jewish Ad Hoc Action Committee for Israel.

Asserting that 19 out of every 20 letters to American newspapers are pro-Israel, Rivlin said that there was still much that needed to be done to improve Israel’s image in this country. He contended that more than half of the estimated 500,000 Jewish college students in this country “do not care about Israel at all.” He said there was a lack of resources and manpower to reach those students.

He also said he had recently presented to Foreign Minister Abba Eban a plan for a special conference in New York, with the participation of the Foreign Ministry and the Jewish Agency, devoted to Israel and American Jewry to “view and examine new approaches, procedures and ways” to bring American Jews from all walks of life closer to Israel.

Rivlin said another goal was to involve the large Israeli community in New York City, which he estimated at between 70,000 and 90,000. He said if those Israelis could be organized, they could contribute very positively to Israel’s cause. So far, he said, a group named Americans For Israel and a newly-formed group of resident Israelis here, Neta Israel (Tree of Israel), had started to work with the Consulate.