By: Daniel Cohen

There are many ways to wake someone from slumber. You can say their name, nudge them, set a loud alarm clock, let the smell of pancakes fill the room… the list goes on. And if all else fails, a splash of ice-cold water is sure to do the trick.

When it comes to developing tomorrow’s Israel advocates, a summer or winter training program in the holy land provides that splash of reality.

Over the past three weeks, I have staffed two Israel programs: a Binyan program that blends Jewish learning and Israel advocacy training, as well as the Hasbara Fellowships program, which is comprised of two weeks of intensive advocacy training and learning from meetings with top diplomats, politicians, journalists and public relations professionals.

On both of these programs, I have watched as students transformed in front of my eyes into passionate Israel advocates.

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