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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/18508/full/18508/despite-squabble-with-cnn-pro-israel-ads-hit-u-s-tvs/ <br /><br /> <b>Despite squabble with CNN, pro-Israel ads hit U.S. TVs</b> <br /> Friday, September 20, 2002 | by <p>JOE BERKOFSKY </p> <br /><br /><p>NEW YORK—Ads trumpeting Israeli democracy and the country's cultural and political similarities to America are coming to TV sets nationwide, but not without a struggle between CNN and the backers of the advertisements.<br /><br /> Matthew Furman, a CNN spokesman, said the network does not run "international advocacy ads concerning regions in conflict," including areas CNN reports on.<br /><br /> In recent months CNN also refused ads by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Furman said.<br /><br /> Media Ad Ventures' Brad Mont said he was "surprised" by CNN's position.<br /><br /> The ads are "very tame," Mont said. The ads "are just a very positive message about Israel."<br /><br /> But Furman said it was the ads' content, not their sponsors, that concerned CNN.<br /><br /> While the pro-Israel groups' "position may be entirely benign, the ads concern a region in a part of the world that we cover every day and every hour," he said.<br /><br /> In the end, the pro-Israel groups went to cable operators such as ATT, Cablevision and Time Warner to purchase air time.<br /><br /> The ads will still appear on CNN and elsewhere, but Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, a political consultant and coordinator of the publicity campaign called the Israel Project, said the national buys would have given the group the ability to pick specific times and TV shows.<br /><br /> Kenneth Bandler, director of public relations for the American jewish Committee, said his group was still happy with its placement<br /><br /> on CNN affiliates. Already, its ad ran in New York this week on the "American Morning" news show with Paula Zahn, he said.<br /><br /> The ads will roll out in 100 major cable TV markets in the coming weeks. The two 30-second spots—which together cost at least $1 million for production and air time—are the centerpiece of an unprecedented public relations effort by American Jewish organizations to improve U.S. public perceptions of Israel.<br /><br /> "The ads emphasize that Israel is a democracy, very much like the United States," Bandler said.<br /><br /> The second ad is being produced by Israel 21C, a group of Silicon Valley high-tech entrepreneurs based in Cupertino, Calif.<br /><br /> Both ads, which paint similar portraits of Israel as the lone Mideast democracy with political freedom for all its citizens, began running back-to-back last week in Washington on CNN, CNBC, Fox News and MSNBC.<br /><br /> The ads' imagery and message are nearly identical: Israel is a pluralistic democracy and shares bedrock cultural and political values with the United States.<br /><br /> "Israel is America's only real ally in the Middle East," the AJCommittee ad declares.<br /><br /> "Israel is a democracy that respects the rights of individuals and gives all its citizens the right to vote in free and fair elections," the add continues. "And in Israel, unlike in other countries in the region, all people—Christians, Muslims and Jews—enjoy freedom of religion, press and speech."<br /><br /> The narrator concludes: "Israel and America—shared values, shared visions for peace."<br /><br /> The audio is set against a backdrop of images including Israeli newspapers, the Israeli Parliament building, an Arab woman at a ballot box, a high-tech scene and the faces of Israelis of all ages and ethnic backgrounds.<br /><br /> Americans "feel a close affinity to the Israeli people because we're both democracies, and we want to build on that support," Bandler said.<br /><br /> Israel 21C's ad follows the same pattern.<br /><br /> The two ads are "virtually the same, if not identical," said Larry Weinberg, executive vice president of Israel 21C. "The whole point of our ad is that we think Americans really don't understand the true nature of Israel's democracy. Our job is to educate them about that."<br /><br /> That was the central theme of a public relations strategy laid out this summer by the Israel Project, a campaign led by Laszlo Mizrahi, Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg and Republican pollster Frank Luntz.<br /><br /> While it's too early to know what kind of impact the ads will have on public opinion, the backers are optimistic.<br /><br /> Meanwhile, more pro-Israel TV spots are likely to be coming to a living room near you.<br /><br /> The AJCommittee is producing a second ad focusing on Israel's historic quest for peace in the Middle East—another message that resonated well in polls—and is working on buying TV time for that ad as well.</p> <p> </p>

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