On May 12 2004, an M-113 APC carrying 5 IDF soldiers was hit by an anti-tank missile when trying to track down tunnels used to smuggle weapon from Sinai to the Gaza strip. The APC was exploded and since it was carrying explosives to blast the tunnels, it was blown into pieces that were spread all over a wide area on the “Philadelphi” rout between the Egyptian border and the south area of the Gaza strip.

This tragic event and few others that happened before was followed by a wide IDF operation in that area called “Operation Rainbow”.

Only an hour after the APC was blown up, a group of young soldiers was brought to the place where the APC was hit for the toughest mission of their life. They were called to do something that I believe no other army has even done. They were given an order to search every inch of the sand and to pick all the pieces of the bodies of their friends who were exploded in the APC.

I call this picture of the IDF soldiers who crawl on sand seeking for the small parts of what had left of their friends: “That Picture”.

That Picture

That picture is the toughest picture I have ever seen

That picture is the most human picture I have ever seen

This is our picture

This is our picture

That picture shows us who we are

That picture shows our deepest values

This is how we look like

This is how we look like

That picture you will never see in any other place

That picture you must cherish and memorize

Carry this picture in you

Carry this picture in you

When we look ourselves in the mirror

When we track a wrinkle here and stubbles there

When we endlessly criticize ourselves

When we slap our faces till we bleed

Remember this picture

Remember this picture

[Chami Zemach]

Sixty five years ago the first prime minister of the state of Israel – David Ben Gurion – stood in front of few hundred people in Tel Aviv and declared the independency of the state of Israel.

In sixty five years the young state has achieved endless achievements in all fields of life and became to be the most innovative state in the world.

People immigrated from dozens of countries to this sunny state and had built together a unique blooming state in the middle of the desert.

Situated in the center of the Middle East the young state had to deal with countless challenges that only this part of the world can offer.

Not once the state of Israel had fronted brutal attempts to exterminate its’ presence but as you know: we are still here.

The state of Israel is one of the great democracies in the world and the Israeli society experience freedom in all fields of life.

The Israeli families are the heart of the Israeli society and carry the values of the Israeli legacy.

The Israeli Family Organization is the face of Israel around the world and we in The Israeli Family do as much as we can to Tell The Israeli Story around the world.

Join us and wish a happy independence day to the state of Israel and its people.

To remember and never to forget

The 6,000,000

The 600,000

The 60,000

The 6,000

The 600

The 60

The 6

The one

Everyone

Dear president Barak Obama.
Many years ago, we were students in Jerusalem and lived in Mevasseret Zion, near Jerusalem. During that period of time, climbing the road to Jerusalem daily, our students car was stuck many times by the road. This is probably part of the full Jerusalem experience and it made us smile today, as we heard that you and your stuff enjoyed that experience too.
It makes you closer to us now.
We wish you a great visit in Israel and that you will have the best Israeli experience.
Chami and Oksana Zemach
המשפחה הישראלית The Israeli Family
We are The Israeli Family and we tell The Israeli Story around the world

Most of the people in the world know not more than a bit about the state of Israel and its people, but they are very much interested in knowing more about them. What people do know about Israel – comes mostly from the news reports that usually cover ‘The conflict’ issues.

We in The Israeli Family know that the state of Israel and the Israeli society are much more than only ‘The conflict’, but the fascinating varieties, issues and aspects of the Israeli society – important and meaningful as they are – are not familiar to most of the people around the world.

A state’s image is given upon what people around the world know of its typical story.

A state’s image is a strategic valuable asset of every country. That is why Israel must act to improve its image in world’s public opinion, by introducing actual meaningful information about Israel to people around the world, knowing that positive Israeli image has significant meaning for Israel’s prosperity.

Positive Israeli image will increase Tourism to Israel, will expand the export of made-in-Israel products and will extract Israel’s attractiveness to foreign investors.

Most of the people in the world are not really against Israel but they do not support Israel because they do not really know The Israeli Story.

That is why

We tell The Israeli Story around the world

To bring more and more people to know The Israeli Story better

To improve the relationship between people around the world and Israel

The Israeli Family Project was created on 2009 by Oksana and Chami Zemach from the village of Kadesh Barnea in the Negev Israeli desert: Zionist, social entrepreneurs who are motivated by the idea of making an effective change in world’s public opinion about Israel – a major key to promote Israel’s prosperity.

Implementing their vision, Oksana, Chami and their daughters started – on August 1^st 2011 – a seven months family world tour in eleven European countries and twenty US’s states, meeting more than ten thousand people and personally introducing them to The Israeli Story during hundreds of inspiring programs. They showed them a video of their life in Israel, shared with them their personal story and the story of the Israeli society, cooked food from the variable Israeli kitchen with them, played Israeli music and games with them and taught them how to write their names in Hebrew.

The family made programs during seven intense months, driving more than twenty thousand miles, calling forty eight residents “home”, making programs with everyone who wanted to listen to The Israeli Story, in schools, colleges and even pre-schools; in special events, shows and pot-lucks; in synagogues, temples and churches.

The world tour attracted wide media coverage and the family gave more than hundred interviews for the media. The family shared their activities daily with many people all over the world through The Israeli Family channels on the internet and in social media.

Those ways The Israeli Story found its way to much more people around the world.

We in The Israeli Family believe in the efficiency of popular public diplomacy, represented by real people and families. When a family speaks, they talk to kids, teenagers and adults. When the family spoke and told their story around the world, people wanted to hear their simple, real, human story to understand life in Israel better. The family is the heart of the Israeli society and Israeli families are therefore the natural ambassadors of the Israeli society.

During two years Oksana and Chami Zemach prepared The Israeli Family world tour. They learned, planned, wrote, e-mailed, engaged their daughters with their plans and eventually produced the largest pro-Israeli campaign ever made, something that no one has ever done before.

Coming back home to Israel after their successful world tour as their activity reached and touched many people around the world, Oksana and Chami Zemach decided to establish a meaningful, efficient, effective organization. To lead a vibrant worldwide activity that will bring The Israeli Story to more people around the world, in order to make a positive change in public opinion about Israel and positively affect the future of Israel.

Now it is the time to move

From a dream created by one family to worldwide meaningful activity

To lead for a big change

THE SIX MISSIONS OF THE ISRAELI FAMILY ORGANIZATION

THE AMBASSADORS OF THE ISRAELI FAMILY

Five selected volunteer Israeli families will be sent to six months journeys in five routs around the world every year. Those families will be chosen and will be trained to tell their individual stories together with the reach, variable, complex picture of the Israeli society. Every family will act as a small effective mission and each will use their specific talents and abilities to tell their Israeli Family Story in the best way.

The first six months of every year will be dedicated to selecting the families, training them, creating their special programs and building their rout. On the next six months they will make the journeys.

The families will volunteer to the journey and their expenses will be paid by the organization. The journeys will be very intensive and productive and will be supported by wide media coverage, as it has been in the Zemach’s journey.

In every worldwide journey the families will personally meet with thousands of people that will be exposed to their family story and will be able to share it with many others.

The families will be demanded to invest a meaningful part of their lives to represent the Israeli society, by sharing their personal stories with people and media as the whole family will become a unique efficient inspiring team of Ambassadors.

After the families’ return home they will be integrated in other Israeli Family activities.

ASK THE ISRAELI FAMILY CALL CENTER

This program is the answer to a major need that the Zemach family discovered while they met with many people around the world. People everywhere have many questions about Israel and when they do they need on-line, relevant, immediate answers to variable questions.

The heart of the program is an Israeli based call center where real representatives will give online answers to any question one will have about Israel in any time and by any technology.

The call center will be based on the on-line support center for the Ambassadors of The Israeli Family.

Future marketing activities will expose the call center to people around the world.

THE ISRAELI FAMILY TRAINING INSTITUTE

A training institute will initiate short term programs for training people to become “Amateur Ambassadors of the Israeli Family”. The programs will vary from 4 hours to few day programs and will give the trainees tools to share The Israeli Story with people whom they meet wherever they live and work around the world.

The programs will be suggested for Israelis who meet with others on their work anywhere around the world and for tourists on their visit to Israel who want to understand the Israeli society better and to have more information that will help them represent The Israeli Story the right way.

THE ISRAELI PUZZLE MEDIA PRODUCTION

A book and a movie will expose the complete Israeli Puzzle picture of the Israeli society, through the variable personal stories of dozens Israeli families.

The colorful mix of the different stories from all the different angles will create the full picture of life in Israel today and will be reachable for people all over the world in many languages.

THE JEWISH PUZZLE MEDIA PRODUCTION

A book and a movie will tell the stories of many different Jewish communities around the world. Their exciting stories, their main interests, challenges and daily life will expose the wide picture of the fascinating Jewish world today.

This vibrant production will be also be a part of the essential bridge between the Israeli people and the Jewish world outside of Israel, as many Israelis know hardly anything about life in the Jewish world outside Israel today.

STUDY PROGRAMS FOR SCHOOLS

While they were on The Israeli Family Journey, the Zemachs met with many students in elementary schools, high schools and even pre-schools. The family initiated few programs that showed the life of kids and teenagers in Israel. A program called “Ten facts about Michal” that tells a short story about the Zemach’s youngest daughter – 5 years old Michal – was the base of the idea to create school programs about kids in Israel introducing their daily life and activities to kids around the world.

This one class program gave the kids a short and meaningful introduction to the Israeli story and gave them a short and positive Israeli experience – hopefully – for life.

The Study programs will be multi-language and multi-level, suitable for those who learn about Israel for the first time and also for kids in Jewish schools. The programs will be distributed worldwide and will include books, a website, teacher’s guidance and professional support.

For supporting The Israeli Family activity please contact us as indicated below

The Israeli Family – We tell The Israeli Story around the world

www.il-family.com isrfamily@gmail.com 972 (0)8 657 3993

Moshav Kadesh Barnea 43, Haluza 85513, Israel

SOUTH EAST CALIFORNIA, A WESTERN DESERT

NO ONE COMES NEAR, NO PROPHETS ARE HERE

THROUGH WALLS OF SAND, ON THE MOUNTAINS WE RACE

THE BIG NOTHING IS CROSSED, DESPERATE ASPHALT ROADS

SALTY LANDS UNDER SUN, LAYS CARCKED DOWN

ENDLESS IRON LINES ON TIES, TILL WHERE THE DAY DIES

SLOWLY DREAMY EASY, AS TURTELS THEY MOVE

DEPRESSED TRAINS, LONG BROKEN TAILS

MONOTONICALLY CLATTERING, CROSSROADS PASSING

DESERTED TOWNS, NAMED LOUSY SOUNDS

TWENTY NINE PALMS, SEARCHLIGHT, JOSHUA TREE

PEOPLE SURVIVE, ON UNKNOWN GROUND

WHO ESTABLISHED, NOMAN’S PLACES

I WONDER IF, THE PRESIDENT

ONCE IN A WHILE, OR EVER COMES BY

TO LANDERS OR, TO IRRIGATE JOSHUA’S TREE

ABANDONEND POSTBOXES, SWAY IN THE WIND

PLANTED WITH NO PLAN, ALONGSIDE A BROKEN WAY

TELL THAT SOMEONE, STILL LIVES HERE SOMEWHERE

STILL WANTS TO RECEIVE, REGARDS EVEN HERE

IN METAL HEATED PIPES, ON WOODEN POLES

SOME COLORED STONES, AND THE WEST IS GONE

08 Feb 2013

On January 31 there will be a very special event as in the same evening, all three of us: Oksana, Gali and Tamar, will perform in 3 different groups on the same stage in Kibbutz Sde-Boker.

Gali already is used to performances but she will sing some new songs with her great band.

Tamar will make her first performance as a leading singer on a band. This will be a piece of history. They will perform with 2 pieces of American music.

And I will  will play guitar with the adults band of the area in one piece of rock music.

You are all welcome to join us on this special evening.
It sure will be a very exciting one.

Oksana.

From here it sometimes looks completely different then it looks from “there”

Israel goes to the poles today.

Not less than 33 parties try to reach for seats in the Knesset – Israel’s parliament. It is likely that about 12-14 of them will actually gain at least 2 seats after today’s elections. About 40% of the next parliament members will be new ones.

If you check the Israeli democracy carefully, you probably can see that there is no other democracy that offers more freedom of election, freedom of speech and freedom of belief than Israel. Even if you have some critics about Israel’s policy (in any issue) you may agree with those facts I declared here.

All Israel’s citizens are free to go and vote today, poles are in every neighborhood, every Kibbutz, every Moshav, every Arab town, every Bedouin village, and even in every prison and army base. Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, Men, Women, and everyone who is over 18, can go freely today to realize their right as Israeli citizens to vote for their favorite party, discreetly and personally, with no fear.

Photo by Ezra Zahor

Israel will vote today in high percentage. The Israelis will vote for Leftwing parties, for Right wing parties and for parties who say they are not on either side,; Old parties that started at 1948 and completely new parties. A small part of the parties will be extremists, on both sides. Most of the votes will go to reasonable right and reasonable left and for everything that is in the middle.

The Israelis will vote this time mostly about the economical issues even though it is hard to understand who is going to do what about it. The security issues will come only second this time and ‘The conflict’ issues will only come third.

It is very important that the people around the world will understand that although all this big conflict in the middle east, people – on both sides – care about their economical daily issues more than anything else, about their families and their neighbors and their friends ability to live better life; than they would like to feel safe and just then they think about the conflict and its future solution (if there really is one…).

Just when Israel’s economy will grow stronger and the Israeli society will feel stronger; it will be able to put more attention to solve the conflict (a very difficult enigma). Just when the Israeli society will be much healthier, it will be able to be more generous regarding its positions in the conflict. You can only be generous when you are strong enough.

Eventually it is very important to understand that what the Israelis will vote today is how they see the reality in Israel now. The Israeli’s votes will reflect the reality of the political situation in Israel. Like it or not, it will be a real mirror to what Israelis believe.

I hope that people around the world will understand it as it is and respect the voting of the only democracy in the Middle East, one of only few Asian Democracies and maybe the most democratic country in the world. You must understand that we vote here in Israel and from here it sometimes looks completely different then it looks from “there”.

Good luck to the state of Israel and to the Israelis!

Chami Zemach

The Israeli Family Project

January 2013

“The past two years had been a great adventure for us: preparing the journey, taking off to 11 European countries, and 20 states in the US, making more than 300 programs in 7 months, calling 48 different residents “home”, driving more than 20,000 miles, meeting dozens of thousands of people, sharing our story with so many communities and having the chance to make a difference.

Then coming back home to start building The Israeli Family Organization and the new phase of our mission that started as a one family dream that became real and now is about to become a much wider activity.

The goal is the same: Creating better connections and building better relationship between people around the world and Israel.

We believe that this goal is crucial to the future of Israel: when people will have better understanding of real Israeli life, better view on Israel’s real challenges and better picture of the big puzzle of the Israeli society, then we can hope for more tourists coming to Israel, more Israeli products to be market around the world and for more foreign investments in Israel.

Achieving this goal will be the beginning of a better future for stronger Israeli society.

A stronger Israeli society is the key for peace in the Middle East as only strong Israeli society will feel strong enough to initiate peace agreements with Israel’s neighbors who are now its enemies”.

Chami Zemach

Co founder

The Israeli Family Project