Avichay Adraee: Corresponding with the Enemy | Pastoralism in Words

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What makes millions of people across the Arab world follow the IDF spokesperson’s account? How do you become the subject of a Hezbollah joke, a familiar figure in Lebanon, and at the same time someone people turn to with a request… to postpone an attack so they can open a new store in a shopping mall?

For more than 20 years, Colonel (Res.) Avichay Adraee was the person through whom Israel spoke to the Arab world. Not over the heads of leaders and organizations, but directly to the Arab public—in its language, within its culture, and on the arenas where the battle for public consciousness takes place: the media and social networks.

Over the years, he became one of the best-known Israelis in the Arab world. When he completed his term, the Arab world also responded to the farewell to the man they knew better than anyone else.

But the real story goes far beyond the media buzz.

In a fascinating, amusing lecture filled with stories that sound imaginary—but actually happened right under our radar—Avichay takes the audience to Israel’s lesser-known front: behind the scenes of the battle for public consciousness.

Through high-profile confrontations, hostile interviewers, viral campaigns, and extraordinary stories, he reveals how language, humor, religious motifs, idioms, and a deep familiarity with Arab culture became strategic tools in the arena of influence.

From an Iraqi pita that became a public-diplomacy tool to messages that reached millions, influencing public opinion and reality on the ground—each story reveals another layer of the war being waged far beyond the battlefield.

Alongside the surprising stories, Avichay also shares the personal cost of the role: threats, incitement, life under a magnifying glass, and the realization that in the Middle East, the power of words can sometimes exact a price no less heavy than the power of weapons.

This is a powerful, fascinating, and thought-provoking lecture that reveals a rare perspective on the Middle East and the daily struggle for public consciousness—a struggle in which words, culture, and a deep understanding of the other side become strategic tools that influence reality.

Please note:

• Starting at 19:30, a rich evening reception will be served for subscribers only, including a cocktail with the lecturer before the event.
• The lecture will begin at 20:30.
• Seating is unassigned.