By Louise Livesey | 21 June 2007, 10:10

Welcome to Israel’s new PR campaign…

In an attempt to boost their PR profile the Israeli government approached Maxim magazine to run a feature on the “hot” Israeli national conscripts shown here (actually four were included of which we show two). Female MPs in Israel’s Knesset have formally complained for “for resorting to “pornography” to promote Israel abroad” (from The Guardian)

The “interviews” follow the usual pornographic line with the women describing how much they love their weapons, amongst other things.

Most Israeli women do compulsory military service for two years from the age of 18. While they do not fight in combat units, they undergo basic training and can be seen at checkpoints in the West Bank.

From The Guardian

The outcry from the Knesset representatives has been unambiguous. Zahava Gal On, the leader of the Meretz party, said

it was inappropriate for western countries to market themselves using half-naked women. “It is unfortunate that the New York consulate thinks that Israel’s relevance will be expressed by the use of naked women who are treated as an object, and not as women of substance who exude achievement and success,” she said.

From The Guardian

Whilst Colette Avital, of the Labour party, described the article as a “pornographic campaign to encourage tourism”.