Despite its tremendous contributions and assets, the State of Israel faces a persistent branding crisis. The Jewish State’s image around the world remains overwhelmingly defined by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—or, rather, by inaccurate or incomplete narratives about that conflict. Yet research by BAV consulting, under the direction of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, shows that a global supermajority, perhaps 60–70% of the world’s population, does not (yet) hold a definitive or inflexible view of Israel or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The same research suggests that non-political strategies that approach Israel as a brand may be most effective in creating positive interest in Israel, and in opening minds to the complexities of the conflict. How do we evaluate our portfolio of strategies for the current environment?

Join other funders who support Israel for an open discussion of new models of targeted Israel engagement. To frame the discussion, three practitioners will offer presentations:

• Anna Blender, Senior Brand Consultant, BAV Consulting. BAV's goal is to change the way the world thinks about brands. Marrying the discipline of financial management with the art of brand management, BAV helps businesses understand and mine their most important asset: the relationship between their customers and their brands. BAV research has been utilized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for over 10 years and was the inspiration and strategy behind the Brand Israel project, which provided the vision for both Vibe Israel and Israel & Co.
  
  
• Joanna Landau, CEO & Founder, Vibe Israel. Vibe Israel is a philanthropic-business initiative to change the way people think and feel about Israel. Utilizing place branding and marketing techniques, Vibe Israel works with Israeli businesses and pro-Israel philanthropists to promote the innovative spirit of the country as well as Israeli businesses and products, connecting people to Israel through their own interests. For the past 4 years, Vibe Israel has focused on bringing international online opinion leaders on a week-long personalized experience of Israel. Each tour is subject matter-specific in an area in which Israel has a competitive advantage, such as environmentalism, wine, social entrepreneurship, tourism, the arts, fashion, gastronomy, and more. Building on this success, Vibe Israel will be implementing new initiatives based on this strategy in 2016.
  
  
• Rafi Musher, Founder, Israel & Co. Israel & Co. builds greater understanding of and appreciation for Israel among global leaders and rising leaders by empowering them to visit the country to experience for themselves Israel’s global contributions, innovative culture, and complex reality. They connect influential people to inspiring Israeli thought leaders, innovators, and policymakers. Participants return to their personal, professional, and civic lives with a new appreciation of Israel which they share with their networks. They focus on segments that have strong track records for turning out future leaders and change-makers, such as top graduate schools in the fields of business, law, and public policy.