Israel’s Unofficial Ambassadors
Hundreds of thousands of young Israelis travel abroad each year. A big portion of these travelers are embarking upon their post-army “big trip” – a common phenomenon in Israeli culture in which discharged soldiers trek around the world to have fun, to taste freedom and to see new places. But during their travels, these young Israelis also meet new people from around the world, building relationships and – for better or worse – influencing what their new friends think about Israel. These young travelers are in effect Israel’s “unofficial ambassadors”.
When a young Israeli meets new friends from around the world, he or she can influence the kinds of impressions those new friends pass along about Israel and Israelis.
The Impact
At ISRAELis (pronounced “Israel is…”), our focus is to provide short workshops for soldiers prior to their release from the military, getting them to understand the impact they can have on people they meet on their trips abroad, and providing the tools that will help them reveal the true Israel behind the headlines.
We have built the apolitical workshops in collaboration with the Debate Company, one of the biggest companies in Israel focused on global communications training. In fact, they are responsible for training Israel’s official diplomats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Working with us, Debate Company’s lecturers will be training the young Israelis.
Afterwards, ISRAELis will provide advanced seminars and a digital platform (in development) to accompany the young travelers while abroad, helping to connect them and assist them in their new mission as “unofficial ambassadors”.
Our goal is to reach every soldier who is nearing the end of their service. So far, we have conducted successful pilot workshops for about 1,000 soldiers, allowing us to perfect our approach.
Founded by three young post-army Israelis (Jonathan, Barak and Eyal, seen at the bottom of the following picture), ISRAELis has gathered a number of endorsements from notable figures within Israel, including generals in the reserves, former ambassadors and officials in the academic sector, among others:
What will we do with the money?
Your support will allow ISRAELis to provide training workshops for approximately 10,000 pre-release soldiers, preparing them for their post-army trip. This goal gives the organization a boost in beginning to implement our vision. Additional funding will go towards promoting and expanding the initiative, including the digital platform.
The crowd at our launch event in Tel Aviv in July. Over 300 people showed up!
