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Former Ambassador Ido Aharoni, the founder of the Brand Israel program, gave credit to web series like Fauda and Tehran for showing the human side of the country.
While speaking to ANI, Aharoni said, "The content that is coming out of Israel today, whether the content that deals with the unhappy geopolitical circumstances of the region, like Fauda, and Tehran, or content that deals with social issues in Israel, I think what it does to Israel as a brand, it humanizes Israel. it's broadening the scope through which Israel is being perceived." Aharoni, former Consul General of Israel in New York mentioned that earlier Israel was being viewed through a very narrow aspect, namely, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which was very one-dimensional. "The only thing people knew about Israel is that the country is engaged in a conflict with the Palestinians but today because of streaming platforms people have an opportunity to learn more about Israeli society." He believes that television shows/web series put a human face on Israel and help the branding of Israel. "It's very similar to what the Indian content industry and the Indian entertainment industry do through music, through literature, through movies to television is to brand India," the former Israeli envoy added. Although, he called India- Israel's relationship very strong but the future of it will be in the softer areas like physical exchanges of influencers, students and artists from both countries. "So we know that the foundation is military ties, procurement of weapons and technology, agriculture but I believe that the future is in the softer areas, for example, physical exchange, I'd like to see more Indian influencers visiting Israel and vice versa. I'd like to see more Israeli influencers, visiting India. I'd like to see more student exchange. We need more cultural exchange. I'd like to have Indian artists perform in Israel and vice versa because we have an Indian community in Israel. But we have Indians in Israel that are very proud of their Indian heritage," he mentioned. Aharoni, APCO Worldwide consultant, Lecturer at New York University and Tel Aviv University also said that the people of Israel love India because of the welcoming spirit of the Indian people. "India is seen as one of the rising global superpowers and accordingly Israel is investing in its ties with India. (ANI)
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