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Sexy photos from Israel spark debate

By Ben HarrisJune 21, 2007 9:00am

The Israeli Consulate’s invitation to a party
for the July issue of Maxim has sparked outrage among feminists and
female parliamentarians. ()

NEW YORK (JTA) – With Hamas now firmly entrenched on Israel’s
southern frontier and the Jewish state wary of war on three fronts,
you’d think Israeli diplomats would have their hands full. But there
they were Tuesday night, rubbing elbows with the paparazzi at a swanky
Manhattan club and celebrating the launch of the July issue of Maxim,
the men’s magazine famous for its scantily clad cover girls and sexual
content.The issue features a five-page spread in which four veterans of
the Israel Defense Forces strip off their uniforms and assume
provocative poses against Israeli backdrops. Among them is Gal Gadot,
winner of the 2004 Miss Israel title and a former army fitness
instructor, splayed on a balcony overlooking Tel Aviv in heels and a
bikini. The Maxim spread inspired outrage in Israel, where one lawmaker
demanded an emergency Knesset meeting on the matter and another derided
the decision to promote Israel with images of half-naked women rather
than “women of substance and accomplishments.”The lawmakers objected to
the assistance that Israel’s New York consulate provided to the project,
which also was supported by the America-Israel Friendship League and
Israel 21c, a California-based nonprofit that educates Americans about
Israel’s contributions to the sciences.On Tuesday, the New York Post
picked up the story and splashed Gadot’s image across its front page.
“I’m very proud,” Gadot told JTA in an interview at the Manhattan club
Marquee, where she was celebrating the launch. “Everybody is entitled to
their opinion. Israel is a democracy and that’s what it’s all
about.”For years, Israel has endeavored to present an image to the world
not colored by interminable violence and terrorism. Since the Six-Day
War, and particularly since the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000,
the country’s spokespeople have struggled to counter the negative
perceptions of Israel as a military power and portray it instead as a
democratic counterpoint to its authoritarian and less-developed
neighbors. That struggle birthed a media strategy that emphasized
Israeli modernity and Western values – its exploding high-tech industry,
its scrappy democracy, the beauty of its land and yes, the sexual
liberation of its people.”There was constantly talk of how we can place
stuff in the mainstream media that would shed a different light on
Israel, because people were fatigued with the conflict,” said Jonathan
Schienberg, a former press officer at Israel’s consulate in New York.
“There were all these gimmicks that were going on with tourism, getting
Hollywood stars to take trips to Israel. That was the biggest thing.”In
the past year, Israel’s Tourism Ministry has run ads featuring Israeli
women in swimsuits on a beach in Tel Aviv and gay couples embracing in
front of famous tourist sites, the latter prompting religious lawmakers
to threaten a no-confidence motion in the Knesset. Last year, Israel’s
consulate in New York, which also initiated the Maxim shoot, launched
Isrealli.org, a blog focusing on non-political aspects of Israeli life.
But the Maxim spread substantially ups the raciness quotient. In one
shot, Natalie, formerly of naval telecommunications, sports an
unbuttoned army jacket underneath which she’s wearing army dog tags and
little else. In another, Nivit, a military intelligence veteran in a
black one-piece and heels, is perched atop two metal turnstiles.For some
feminists, the images are not signs of Israeli progress, but a
regression to an earlier period of overt female exploitation. Susan
Weidman Schneider, editor-in-chief of the feminist journal Lilith, said
she was “dumbfounded” by the consulate’s decision to support such a
project.”What could they possibly have been thinking?” Weidman Schneider
asked. “This feels not only ill-advised and sexist, but also a
throwback to an earlier era. Israeli companies used to feature women
with large breasts in tight T-shirts in ads for grapefruits, long after
such ads would have been inappropriate here.”David Saranga, Israel’s
consul for media and public affairs in New York and the head of the
department that invited the magazine to Israel, says the sexiness factor
is nothing to be ashamed of. With some media feasting on the Maxim
photos and their resultant flare-up in Israel, Palestinian terrorism and
Israeli reprisals have been momentarily displaced by smooth-skinned
bodies against cool Mediterranean vistas. “What’s the problem with
that?” Saranga asked. “People are saying there’s a problem. This is part
of the Israeli society – going to swimming pools, going to the beaches.
And they are in bathing suits. Yes, it’s part of Israel.”Saranga said
Maxim was a “serious magazine” and that it had complete editorial
freedom to decide how to portray the Jewish state; the consulate just
facilitated their travel, as it does with many publications. The point
was to promote Israel as a normal country, particularly among the
magazine’s young male readership.”In research we did here, we saw that
people are not aware that Israel is a Western country,” Saranga told
JTA. “People put Israel in the same group of countries in the Middle
East. They don’t understand that our culture is a Western culture.”At
the Tuesday launch party, few people seemed troubled by Knesset member
Colette Avital’s description of the consulate’s partnership with Maxim
as a “pornographic campaign.” Using his cell phone to illuminate the
glossy pages in the darkened club, one attendee, Shai Lerner, scanned
the images and concluded they weren’t so naughty after all.”I don’t
think it’s selling sex,” Lerner mused. “I think it’s selling secular
culture.”Nor was it just men who were unfazed by Israel’s daughters
arrayed on the magazine’s pages. Einat Wilf, an Israeli writer and
former aide to Shimon Peres who recently challenged Ronald Lauder for
the presidency of the World Jewish Congress, said the controversy was
overblown. “I would say that it’s not important either way,” Wilf told
JTA by phone from Israel. “There’s nothing wrong with drawing attention
to Israel’s beautiful women, just as there’s nothing wrong with drawing
attention to its scientific achievements.”