These are some of the reasons we established +972 Magazine. We are a group of independent journalists and bloggers who came together to carry on debates in English. That helps both internationalize the conversation, while allowing Israelis and Palestinians to join in as well, with only a minor language hurdle. The content is free and accessible to all, and that’s because all of our writing is on a volunteer basis.

European rabbis as well as Israel's Minister of Public Diplomacy have criticized Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) for publishing and selling an Arabic-language app of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," probably the best-known anti-Semitic forgery.

Brand Israel is a project to teach the truth about Israel – and makes it more than about day to day politics, but also about daily life. Teaching and reaching the young at the entry level stage of their career is a wonderful time to influence minds – before their minds are influenced by the other side.

Israel has unveiled the latest weapon with which it hopes to win over the hearts and minds of people in the former Soviet Union: Interpretive dance. The Public Diplomacy Ministry is sending a group of Israeli artists, including dance troupe Vizavi, on a tour of Baltic countries aimed at improving the country's image in the region.

Israeli politicians joined criticism of Apple on Thursday over a new phone application of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious early-20th-century anti-Semitic forgery, recently made available on its iTunes store. Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein called on the electronics giant to ban the app, arguing it perpetuated the canard of a Jewish international conspiracy to take over the world.

It is not that often that the Western Wall is the focus of attention for celebrity magazines. But it was recently when actor David Arquette was in Israel and, upon visiting the Wall, decided to have the barmitzvah that he never had as a youngster, and to have it there.
While the barmitzvah was spontaneous, the growth in celebrity visits to Israel is not.

Israel’s brand used to be a producer of conflicts and bad news. ...he thought Israel should focus on building a relationship that is meaningful to both the country and consumers by broadening the conversation beyond conflicts and finding ways through research to better communicate Israel’s assets such as creative spirit and innovation.

What do the Olympics mean to you? Is it about men and women who have trained and persevered for long years - indeed most of their lives - to reach the peak and a brief moment of glory? When an athlete achieves a superhuman result, do you wonder whether he or she took a shortcut, courtesy of the anabolic steroid industry, as Ben Johnson did in that infamous 100-meters final at the 1988 Seoul Games?