Obama visit to Israel gets official name, logo

JERUSALEM — The itinerary and agenda for President Barack Obama’s trip to Israel next month is still being hammered out by teams on both sides. But the visit already has an official name, and now it will also have a logo.

From hurricanes and wars to Olympic Games and royal weddings, media outlets frame major events with catchy titles and logo designs.

Past presidential or dig- nitary visits to Israel have been named but mostly by the police, who codenamed their operation to secure President George W. Bush’s visit “Clear Skies” and Pope Benedict XVI’s tour as “White Robe.”

In what seems to be a first attempt at official government branding, Israel has named Obama’s visit “Unbreakable Alliance.” Translated compactly from the Hebrew words

or an alliance of nations, the phrase echoes variations on the theme repeated by U.S. leaders in recent decades, from Obama’s “unshakable commitment” to Israel’s security to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s “unshakable bond” and even back to Vice President Dan Quayle’s “unshakable alliance.”

The English title was chosen with care, local media reported, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was displeased with the English translation for “Operation Pillar of Defense,” Israel’s military campaign against the Gaza Strip in November, where a biblical reference got lost in translation.

Israel’s branding and marketing efforts also include a logo. The prime minister’s office invited the public to choose between three designs uploaded to Facebook and vote for their favorite.

Alon Liel, a former direc- This logo, which was voted for by Facebook users, will represent President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel. tor of Israel’s Foreign Mincampaign. Thevisit, he says, istry, doesn’t recall such is not going to be easy or official marketing in the simple for the government. past. First, he notes, presidential visits are rare.

But Liel sees more to this