During the festive holiday celebrating the miraculous deliverance of the Jews in the biblical Book of Esther, the ministry broadcast live from parties in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. About one million people from around the Arab Middle East tuned in, commented, liked, and shared the videos.
“There are not too many opportunities to expose the real Israel to the Arab world, and the holidays are the best time to do it,” said Yonatan Gonen, head of the Foreign Ministry’s Arabic-language Digital Diplomacy Department. “This time we decided to hang out with mobile phones among the celebrants and broadcast live.”
The most watched broadcast was from the Purim party in the Nachlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem. Many celebrants danced for the cameras and shouted, “Eid Masher Sa’id!”—“Happy Purim!” in Arabic.
“We felt as if we were taking the Arab world with...
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