David Saranga

David Saranga is the Consul for Media and Public Affairs at the Israeli Consulate in New York.

Operation Cast Lead

Saranga was active in employing new media to put across Israel's message during its offensive in Gaza in late 2008/early 2009.

The Twitter page of the Israeli consulate was inaugurated last December, on the second day of Operation Cast Lead against Hamas rule in Gaza. The first message was an open invitation to a press conference in which Saranga promised to answer questions about Israel Defense Forces activities.

"In a few hours we had more than 5,000 participants around the world," he said.

The groundbreaking measure was commended by leading international newspapers like the New York Times, Le Figaro and The Guardian.

140 Characters Conference

In June 2009, Saranga spoke at the 140 Characters Conference, an online media convention in New York. He told the vent that the Twitter social messaging service has revolutionized Israeli diplomacy and become a leading advocacy apparatus, Haaretz reported.

Saranga was invited to the conference as the representative of the "first diplomatic mission to use Twitter" in order to address its messages to a wider audience as possible.

"I believe we're doing something right if we are invited to a strictly professional conference to explain how a state can utilize this revolutionary media outlet to spread its message," Saranga told Haaretz.

Contact

• Twitter: http://twitter.com/israelconsulate http://twitter.com/DavidSaranga