The Israeli government is launching a campaign to generate positive national images over the Internet.
Shaul Tzemach, the Tourism Ministry’s director-general, on Wednesday said the government was sponsoring new ads celebrating Israel’s tourist attractions that would be made available over the Web.
Israeli officials also will encourage sympathetic online communities to promulgate cheery images of the Jewish state rather than footage that stirs up fear.
The ministry came out Wednesday against recently posted YouTube clips showing photographs of the massacre at Mercaz HaRav yeshiva.
The clips’ provenance is unclear, though they were clearly intended to drum up support for Israel’s fight against Palestinian terrorists.
“The terror attack videos greatly hurt Israel’s image as a desired tourist destination,” Tzemach said in a statement.
Of the new ad campaign, Tzemach said, “There is no doubt that Israel will benefit, both economically and politically, from these videos. We are working to make sure that any Internet surfer who types ‘Israel’ while surfing the YouTube Web site will get a variety of positive videos rather than negative ones.”
