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NEWS
Israel's PR Budget a 'Sad Joke'
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
Israel's public relations budget is extremely low and fails to meet its needs, Daniel Zonshine, director of the Information Department at the Foreign Ministry, told the Knesset's Committee on Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs this week.
Zonshine reported that the total budget for public relations worldwide comes to NIS 40 million ($11 million) per year, of which only NIS 12 million ($3.4 million) is allocated for actual activities. He also noted they sometimes work under cover to avoid being identified.
Committee Chairman Danny Danon (Likud) called on Zonshine to request a budget increase, noting that this is a paltry sum since "they are divided among all of the Israeli consulates around the world" and calling it a "sad joke."
"Today, this is the main battlefield," he said. "A lecture at a university abroad, a Facebook page, or an interview in Arabic are as influential as a tank and sometimes even more."
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