Israel's Human Front
Facing students who thought Israelis are bad people, in the Bundestag and the Berlin city hall, I witnessed again the power of public diplomacy, but also the understanding that the world's trust depends on Israel's…
Assessment
A firsthand account from a public diplomacy effort in Berlin reveals the gap between how Israelis see themselves and how others perceive them. The writer encountered students who viewed Israelis as bad people, then engaged with German political institutions. The core insight is that global trust in Israel depends not on messaging alone but on Israel's demonstrated responsibility toward its own citizens. The piece suggests that public diplomacy works only when backed by credible domestic conduct.