Supermodel Bar Refaeli Should Be Banned From Pro-Israel Ads, Army Says
Too Sexy? Bar Refaeli is certainly one of the most recognizable Israelis in the world. So why does the IDF want her barred from a global pro-Israel ad campaign? Image by getty images
The Israeli Defense Forces criticized a public relations campaign launched by the Foreign Ministry to boost Israel’s image around the world because it starred sexy Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli, an Israeli TV station reported Sunday.
The report stated that the IDF spokesman sent an official letter to the Foreign Ministry arguing that by using Refaeli, who didn’t complete her military service, the Foreign Ministry was sending a “message of forgiveness and turns a blind eye towards people that chose to enlist.”
“In recent years, the IDF has been trying a verity of methods to improve the value of military service and to fight draft evasion, in order to preserve the moral dimension whereby the IDF is the people’s army,” Channel Two quoted the letter.
The letter went on to argue that although public relations campaigns abroad are not the IDF’s responsibility the foreign ministry should had wave taken into account: “the negative message sent out to Israeli society from the inclusion of Bar Refaeli, who did not complete national service, as Israel’s representative in a public relations campaign.”
Several years ago, the IDF conducted an aggressive campaign against celebrities who did not serve in the IDF.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
