Israel's E-Diplomacy Strategy; Between Innovation and Public Diplomacy

This paper intends to present a complete case study analysis of the existing relationship between innovation policies; public e-diplomacy and country branding strategies by taking an empirical approach to a particular example. As a consequence, the empirical study of Israel e-diplomacy and the country branding strategy will enable to understand how innovation and more concretely new technologies as Internet and Big Data analysis can help administrations to implement diplomacy plans. E-diplomacy has been used by the country to reinforce its strategy of “Hasbarah” (Hebrew name referred to the public diplomacy strategy created to compensate the country’s international low popularity) at least, at short term. This piece intends to go further and explain the influence of the different shaping variables; on the one hand, Israel’s particular public diplomacy, nowadays designed within a particular approach by the sometimes, controversial Netanyahu’s administration. The current government has encountered in new technologies a possible tool to counteract online extremism and hostile narratives contradicting its particular public diplomacy discourse. On the other hand, innovation and technology, which became crucial for the country diplomacy program, having influenced the start-up nation philosophy that Israel has embraced. As a consequence, its of interest to study the relation between innovation solutions for civil use and the nation e-diplomacy strategy; to understand into which extend the state can rely on innovation as a long term guideline and more important, are they effective for the nation branding strategy? Hence, a very interesting aspect of this paper comes with the acknowledgement of an extraneous variable which appears by the inclusion of the impact on both, the public diplomacy and the nation’s economy, of the country's military’s influence and the nation ongoing regional conflict. To conclude, using a practical example, this work wants to contribute to the academic debate surrounding the effectiveness of e-diplomacy strategies. Thus, this dilemma could be extended to the international relations and affairs debate, taking into consideration if e-diplomacy looses efficiency when applied by a country facing crisis or conflict situations.