As the high holidays are upon us, the flood of Israeli tourists is once again reaching pitch levels all across the world. According to many people though, this is not exactly an occasion to celebrate. With each individual trip abroad, our reputation seems to take another hit. And it has little to do with anti-Semitism or Israeli government policy. The majority of the blame lies squarely at the foot of the average Israeli, who no matter what just can't seem to shake their brutish and crass ways. Things apparently have gotten so bad that the Israeli Goodwill Ambassadors Association had to take it upon themselves to initiate an aggressive PR campaign to get the point across to our fellow citizens that their behavior abroad can no longer be tolerated.
I'll be the first to say, that even as someone who doesn't identify as a true Israeli, nonetheless, on paper I am, and I still care about the people here, and just as equally about our reputation. As funny as a lot of these ads are, the root of the problem isn't too humorous. If we're going to claim to be cultured and enlightened, it's about time we join the rest of the civilized world and act like it.
"There are enough animals in the world, don't become one of them"
Simply way overdue.
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