Avichay Adraee: Corresponding with the Enemy | Pastoralism in Words

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What causes millions of people across the Arab world to follow the IDF spokesperson’s account? How does someone become the subject of Hezbollah jokes, a familiar figure in Lebanon, and at the same time the person people turn to asking him 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 its leaders and organizations, but directly to the Arab public—in its language, its culture, and in the arenas where the battle for consciousness is waged: the media and social networks.

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

But the real story lies far beyond the media buzz.

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

Through highly publicized 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 of people and influenced 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—the threats, incitement, life under a magnifying glass, and the understanding that in the Middle East, the power of words sometimes exacts a price no less heavy than the power of a weapon.

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

Please note: A rich evening reception will be served starting at 19:30.

For subscribers only: A cocktail with the lecturer before the event.

The lecture will begin at 20:30.

Seating is unassigned.