The program has been so successful, in fact, that it’s inspired spin-offs among other cultural groups. The idea that young people of a certain heritage should visit their ancestral homeland — the “birthright” behind the name of the Israel program — is not exclusive to the Jewish diaspora, and that’s the thinking behind programs following in Birthright’s footsteps.

As The Jerusalem Post reports, the effort to make Israel’s case is being spearheaded by 400 college students posting comments, memes, video clips, images and explanatory graphics on Facebook and Twitter from dozens of computers in a “Hasbara war room” at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.

“Fashion connects all people,” said Mr. Drori, who interned at Azzedine Alaïa in Paris and Donna Karan in New York before returning to start Colle’cte. “It can be a bridge across color and religion.”

Israelis are the world's second biggest fans of America, with their 84 percent favorable opinion trailing only that of the Filipinos, with 92 percent. When ethnicity is taken into account, Israeli Jews are neck-to-neck with the Filipinos, with a 91 percent favorable opinion. Only 46 percent of Israeli Arabs are favorable to America, however. 

For most citizens of Israel, Operation Protective Edge is being fought on two fronts.  But as we learned from previous operations, the conflict has a third front, an international front, where public opinion is formed.

As of yet, no Israelis have been killed during the latest Gaza offensive. 174-0 is a tough ratio to explain. Especially for an operation that Israel claims is being taken in self-defense against terrorists in Gaza. But the Israeli Prime Minister’s office may have found an answer to this minor public-diplomacy challenge: Tinder, a popular online smartphone dating/hookup app.

Someone once told me that in Gaza “things are never so bad that they can’t get worse.” Those words came back when I read that the Israeli prime minister has told his military “to take the gloves off” to stop the rocket fire from Gaza.