Influencing economic change: Government interventions, disputes between sectors, and public relations campaigns in Israel

As with the earlier downturn of the Great Depression, the current global economic crisis has revived direct government intervention in the marketplace. It has also stimulated wider contemporary debates on the role of government in financial markets that feature not just funding issues, but questions of regulation and social legitimacy, and a greater acknowledgement of distinctive national–international tensions rather than a converging consensus around continuing to deregulate a global market. This article seeks to provide historical perspectives to these debates by considering the role of government, with the involvement of public relations, during economic changes in Israel. It focuses on major campaigns in Israel around the roles, and inter-sector disputes, of three major sectors: agriculture during the first half of the 20th century; industrialization from the 1960s to the 1990s; and commerce and competition from the 1990s into the 21st century. The article tracks these three historical transformations as part of Israel's gradual shifting from a nation economy toward a global economy. It concludes that, in the present downturn, the Israeli experiences offer a reminder of the impact of communication campaigns, interwoven with national identity, on economic changes, and the potential for public relations strategies and tactics to have long-term effects.