![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.reunion68.com\/Biuletyn\/img\/jns-1.png\")
<\/a>SCOOP: Jewish Federations of North America dismisses comms adviser after JNS reports he said to avoid using term \u2018Zionism\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\nAndrew Bernard<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The Jewish Federations of North America ended its relationship on Wednesday with a communications consultant, who told attendees at one of its conferences to avoid using the word \u201cZionism\u201d to message effectively about Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n After JNS reported<\/u><\/a><\/span> exclusively on how Matthew Berger, executive director of the Federation\u2019s \u201cProject Halo,\u201d made the recommendation at an invite-only Federation event on Tuesday, the Federation told JNS that it was ending its work with him and his communications company.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe presentation at our National Young Leadership Cabinet Retreat was not prepared by Jewish Federations of North America, but by a Project Halo consultant, and does not represent our approach to Zionism,\u201d Niv Elis, the Federation\u2019s associate vice president for external communications, told JNS.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cProject Halo was created to equip the Jewish community with research-based messaging and communications tools to combat antisemitism and strengthen support for Israel,\u201d Elis said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAt this time, we will be ending our engagement with that consultant and thank them for their work helping launch Project Halo,\u201d the group said. \u201cJewish Federations of North America remain fully committed to Project Halo and to providing our communities with the strongest possible resources to advocate proudly and effectively for Israel and the Jewish people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Berger was executive director of the project and is also the president and CEO of Mashber Strategies, a communications firm that counts some of the largest American Jewish groups as current and former clients.<\/span> An attendee at the conference told JNS that \u201cmy jaw kind of hit the floor for a second\u201d when Berger told the audience at the Federation\u2019s youth retreat that it should \u201cavoid \u2018Zionism\u2019\u201d in a slide presentation about how to communicate about Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n The slide instead recommended that attendees should \u201cshowcase diversity\u201d and \u201cfocus on the common enemy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Berger told JNS that the situation was a \u201cmisunderstanding of the presentation and my beliefs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs a Zionist, I\u2019m frustrated with how the word is being misused and often abused today by those attacking Israel,\u201d Berger said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy goal is to guide people to use language that will open doors to conversations,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cBy talking to people about Jewish self-determination and Israel as the Jewish homeland, rather than using the often-misconstrued term \u2018Zionism,\u2019 we are more likely to engage allies in the fight against antisemitism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n A February briefing document from Project Halo that the Federation shared with JNS noted that the word \u201cZionism\u201d is frequently misinterpreted and that a poll from the Federation found that a diminishing number of American Jews self-identify with the term.<\/span><\/p>\n The document encouraged supporters of Israel to define the term \u201cZionism\u201d in response to those findings, not avoid using it.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJewish Federations are proudly and unapologetically Zionist,\u201d Elis told JNS. \u201cSince Oct. 7, we have raised more than $900 million to support Israel and its people, and we stand firmly behind both our commitment to Israel and the research we have produced to help our community better understand today\u2019s communications challenges.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion’68,<\/em> SCOOP: Jewish Federations of North America dismisses comms adviser after JNS reports he said to avoid using term \u2018Zionism\u2019 Andrew Bernard The Federation told JNS exclusively that it is ending its engagement with a consultant who headed one of its communications projects after JNS reported that he advised attendees at a Federations conference to avoid […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132782"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=132782"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132800,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132782\/revisions\/132800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=132782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=132782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=132782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe Federation told JNS exclusively that it is ending its engagement with a consultant who headed one of its communications projects after JNS reported that he advised attendees at a Federations conference to avoid using the word \u201cZionism.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
![](\"https:\/\/static.jns.org\/dims4\/default\/6536b06\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/6000x3378+0+185\/resize\/1000x563!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.jns.org%2Fef%2F94%2F33b0f3e54835a9f1e9823b6291b5%2F54932087326-fe95979cb6-o.jpg\")
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Jewish Federations of North America 2025 General Assembly, Nov. 17, 2025. Credit: Courtesy.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
\n.
\n![](\"https:\/\/static.jns.org\/dims4\/default\/65e087e\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/2281x1396+0+0\/resize\/1440x881!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fk2-prod-jns-prod.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fa7%2F6b%2Fba59589e478699f32e51e6d0695c%2Fimg-6934.jpg\")
A presenter at a conference of the Jewish Federations of North America urged attendees to \u201cavoid \u2018Zionism\u2019\u201d in a slide on making \u201ceffective messages about Israel\u201d on Aug. 4, 2026<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n
\n
\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion’68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.
\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:
\n<\/em>webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"