So much for our public diplomacy. When the Indonesia mission’s offices in New York City renege on paying parking fines and instead simply rake up the bills, what does it really say about the nation’s reputation abroad?

Edelstein said that despite the positive speech by President Obama in the United Nations this week, Israel still has a lot of work to do to explain its position regarding the Palestinian Authority’s unilateral statehood bid and to present the real face of Israel. It is for this reason, he explained, that dialogues with non-Jews were also included in his public diplomacy campaign.