Which would you rather look at? Pictures of war, conflict and violence - or hot guys eating hummus? Four students from the IDC in Herzliya are counting on you choosing the latter. That premise was the idea behind the hottest new Instagram account around: “Hot Dudes Eating Hummus.” [...] “The four of us wanted to create an apolitical branding campaign for Israel to shed some light on the humor, diversity, fun, beauty, and culture that are so vibrant and rich in this country,” 

India has organised a week-long Indian culinary week here to showcase the country's wide ranging food habits as part of cultural interaction with Israel. The programme by the Indian Embassy here in collaboration with Israel's leading hotel chain Dan Hotels was inaugurated on Sunday. Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, 52, is showcasing the wide ranging food habits prevalent in India. 

Advocacy groups in the U.S. and around the world will commemorate the annual International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia with a series of ceremonies, marches and other events. Special U.S. Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons Randy Berry is scheduled to speak at a Human Rights First reception at the Rayburn House Office Building on May 17. 

An Israeli “yes” could have done more for its image abroad than 100 public diplomacy videos, helped negate its current international image as a militaristic peace refusenik and shown that Israel can be a willing partner for peace. Or at least, it wouldn’t have provided further evidence to bolster that image. Now, all anyone’s going to remember about this latest episode is that France wanted to organize a peace conference, the Palestinians agreed to participate – and Israel refused.

Lawrence—part of Bruno Mars’ songwriting trio The Smeezingtons—has helped pen hits like CeeLo Green’s “F--- You,” Flo Rida’s “Right Round,” and Snoop Dogg’s “Young, Wild, and Free.” Rather than encouraging people to tear up the dance floor or smoke weed, the singer-songwriter hopes his new tune, “Begin Again,” will inspire peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

While Abdurrahman Wahid’s philosemitism was an exception, it is clear that people-to-people relations are the best way to humanize Israel’s public image in Indonesia and hold great potential to bring both countries closer together for the benefit of their people.

The migration of ministries of foreign affairs (MFAs) to social media is by no means a new occurrence. Indeed, the Israeli, Swedish, and American MFAs have been active on Twitter for nearly a decade. It may therefore be time to investigate if MFAs have mastered the use of social media to attain diplomatic goals—be it conversing with foreign populations, gathering information on other nations' foreign policies, or narrating a coherent national image.