Our Story

Our
Mission

ISRAEL-is aims to connect young Israelis and their peers worlwide. In doing so, we are building strong bonds with diverse groups of people, including backpackers, social media influencers, and young Arab leaders from the Middle East and North Africa.

These encounters allow us to remove barriers, share and hear authentic stories, and bring about a new and positive conversation about Israel and Israeli society globally.

Our vision is based on the understanding that, in our world, people connect with one another prior to connecting with ideas.

Therefore, it is precisely the authentic, personal story that has the power to dispel biases and forge deeper understandings of contemporary life in Israel and the region.

Back
ground

ISRAEL-is was established in 2017, after our founders, Eyal, Barak, and Jonathan, traveled the world and experienced negativity towards Israel for the first time. When asked about Israel, they felt they were facing a significant challenge and understood what others really think of our country. That is what led them to take action and found ISRAEL-is!

ISRAEL-is was established with the goal of improving Israel’s global image through the Israeli people themselves.

ISRAEL-is is not a distant concept. ISRAEL-is is us – young Israelis with unique stories that have the power to forge genuine connections between peoples and countries.

ISRAEL-is Team

Eyal Biram

Founder and CEO

Eyal, Captain in the reserves in an elite unit in the IDF, founder and CEO of ISRAEL-is since 2017. Listed in the "Forbes 30 Under 30" list as one of the 30 most influential young people in Israel in 2019. On Israel Independence Day 2016, he received an award for “Outstanding Officer”. Completed a year of a year of volunteer service in the Jordan Valley "Agricultural Union" youth movement. During his military service in “Operation Protective Edge”, he saw first hand the way in which the media presented the situation on the ground and the consequences it had. After his military service he travelled abroad and after several incidents realized the need to help Israeli youth influence the world properly, which led to the establishment of ISRAEL-is.

Yishai Ben Zion

Director of International Activity

Yishai holds a BA in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies from the Shalem Academic Center. He serves as a Major in the reserves in the IDF Paratroopers special forces unit and is married to Shira and together they have a son, Jonathon Louie.

Merav Barel

Social Media Coordinator

Merav, ISRAEL-is content creator and social media coordinator, is 22 years old from Jerusalem, and served in the IDF spokesperson unit as a military correspondant and director of the IDF’s social networks. Prior to her military service, Merav volunteered for a year in South Africa through the Jewish Agency.

Omer Zimmerman

Director of Programs & Content at the Middle East & North Africa

Omer, Lives in the northern city of Nesher. he is got his BA in Political Science and Communication from the University of Haifa. From 2017-2019 he was the Jewish Agency's emissary to campuses in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Omer led Birthright groups and various Hasbara-Geopolitical groups for students (Maccabi Task Force, Fact Finders). In the past, he worked in the Haifa-Boston partnership and took an active part in the StandWithUs students program, and is now part of the SWU alumni network.

Tzofnat Shpiner- Turgeman

COO

Tzofnat joined the ISRAEL-is team as COO from Rashi Foundation- There she worked in a number of roles including management, operation of educational and social programs to promote academic achievement Tzofnat holds a BA in special education and psychology and a MA in organizational consulting for educational institutions and non-profits.

Eden Eini

Director of Trainings Program

Holds a BA in community leadership & communications from Oranim College. Over 9 years of experience in international programs, including delegations around the world and representing Israel in various forums. In her last role, she led the ACT-IL activist community that fought Antisemitism and Antizionism through social media

Eden Pareenty

Administrative Manager

Eden, Caption in the reserves duty, served as a company commander for human resource officers in her last army position. Today she serves as a combat battalion logistics officer in the reserves. After her military service, she travelled and in order to make it more meaningful, decided to volunteer as an ISRAEL-is representative in Peru. Eden currently manages the organizations’ human resources and task management.

Omer Paz

Operations Coordinator

Dina Lache Iacov

Director of Development

Tamer Masudin

Arabic content manager

Tamer is an Undergraduate student in Government and Diplomacy at Reichman University, Originally from the Bedouin City Segev-Shalom. Did two years of National Service at a Jewish-Arab youth movement, wrote for Ha'aretz, Participated in "Kav Ha Zinuk" 10-year leadership program, and now is a Fellow at the Agrov program for Leadership and Diplomacy.

Eden Gorgi

Influencer Coordinator

Matan Dansker

Director of Strategy and Digital Media

Adiel Cohen

Tiktok Influencer Coordinator

Matan Bar

Middle East Partnerships Coordinator

Matan holds a BA in Middle East, Islam, and Arabic from the Shalem Academic Center. He is currently studying his Master’s in Government and Public Policy at Reichman University. Prior to working as our Middle East Partnerships Coordinator, leading delegations to Morocco, and countries involved in the Abraham Accords agreement, Matan worked as a researcher for the podcast “Doing Politics” and a news editor for the Channel 12 newssite.

Adi Wengrovski

Director of Social Media Influencer Academy

Adi grew up in Kibbutz Zikim on the Gaza Strip border. Prior to her miliary service, she volunteered at the “Kfar Hayarok” Boarding School. She then served as a fitness instructor in the IDF and an officers trainer. Adi joined the ISRAEL-is team because of her strong connection to our mission. She began working on our local and international delegations and currently manages our influencer program.