Pressing the flesh

Last night, NEFESH B'NEFESH, the Jewish organization that promotes and faciliates Anglo immigration to Israel, hosted the First International Bloggers Convention in Jerusalem. Two hundred Anglo bloggers came to the Nefesh B'Nefesh conference center with a live feed to over 1000 more bloggers in North American, South Africa, Australia, and Great Britain. There were two waves of panel discussions focussing on how to get started, get recognized, as well as a chance to meet other people blogging under the rubric Jewish Blogger.

There were several interesting aspects to the evening. First, the collective turnout was incredibly diverse politically and theologically but entirely representative of the Anglo world in general. Lefties and liberals mingled freely with righties and observants--they even talked together to say nothing of some serious disagreements. However, it was the underlying "market for ideas" cultural dynamic of an industrial mode of production (as opposed to an agrarian mode of production) that was so resoundingly clear. In short, it was clearly an Anglo event and evocative of the Anglo communities emerging political consciousness.

Second, it was no accident that the unannounced guest speaker was Bibi Netanyahu. He arrived midstream during the first panel surrounded by security and politely sat in the first row while the panel speakers completed their talk. Then, in his usual style, he took the stand joking and bantering with the panel and moderator.

Third, he asked in perfect English if everyone spoke Hebrew; when told that there was a larger audience in North America, he said, "well, I guess for the sake of the audience at home, we'll speak in English". It was the flawless American dialect of a native speaker. A stunning demonstration of the emerging political power of the dual national, dual voter, political constituency.

Netanyahu spoke at length of the power of the internet and the need to speak forcefully for truth with truth. He repeatly spoke of immigrants from the developed world to Israel as having a stake in the future of Israel as well as a chance to change the nature of the country for good. It was clear that he was pressing flesh.

"The odds are we will have elections soon and we will make every effort to win the elections and to change the direction of the country," as the questions turned from the role of bloggers to a clearly political agenda. Netanyahu's entire address can be seen on the Nefesh B'Nefesh website.

Finally, the director of Brand Management of the Israeli Foreign Ministry addressed the conference about efforts to change Israel's brand image in the world market place. Very illuminating to say the least. However, what was also just as informative was the manner in which the information was delivered and the overall blogger reaction. In true old order style, the director informed the audience how the Foreign Ministry (the Super Kibbutz Committee) was going to pitch Israel in the future and how the bloggers could carry that message to the world.

Now, at this point, the audience reacted in a polite but predictable Anglo fashion--don't tell us what to say--give us the information and WE will decide what to say and how to say it was the general rumble throughout the hall. The FM flack ran out of time as the bloggers were just warming up.

The sentiment continued into the next panel when the moderator began with a predictable comment pointedly telling the Director the very point of the internet and blogging was to express personal insights openly without top-down direction, thank you. As participants began to speak up (shout is a modest description), the moderator called for order, announced the first speaker, and the hall settled down immediately. The thanked the moderator for the introduction and added parenthetically that only an Israeli moderator could get such a diverse Anglo crowd to settle down so quickly--maybe because he was also carrying a pistol.

In the last few weeks, Anglo interests have been more visible in the Israeli press. With elections around the corner in both countries, the Anglo vote is something that must be considered. Already Anglo consummers have been changing how Israelis shop and what they buy. It could be that during the coming months the Anglo voice and vote will make significant inroads into the Israeli political and economic scene.