Israel, unfiltered

A delegation of Hollywood actors and industry professionals toured Israel last week with The Face of Israel, a partially government-funded organization that promotes Israel internationally.

The group of mostly Asian-American actors and producers spent the week traveling the country, visiting museums and markets, touring Christian sites, and meeting real live Israelis.

But not the president or prime minister, much to the chagrin of actress Julia Ling. “I always wanted to do a selfie with the president and prime minister and be like ‘Yo, what’s up, dawg,” she said.

Besides Ling, the delegation included producers Janet Yang and Dan Lin, film actors Steve Byrne, comedian Bobby Lee, and actors Jamie Chung and Bryan Greenberg, who are engaged.

It was Yang, who has produced a wide range of films, including “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” and “The Joy Luck Club,” who helped organize the trip. She had initially been contacted by Irwin Katzoff, from America’s Voices in Israel, a similar organization.

The Face of Israel was established last year and considers itself a nongovernmental public diplomacy firm that reaches out to influential people around the world, seeking to better acquaint them with Israel, said Chanan Elias, who directs the organization’s North American desk. The organization receives some funding from the Foreign Ministry and private donors and works closely with the Tourism Ministry.

The organization is growing quickly, said Elias. It hosted 40 groups in its first year and “98.9% of the time, they walk away with a great impression,” he said.

He pointed out as an example Jamie Chung, an actress who has appeared in many films and TV shows and has 580,000 Instagram followers.

“Her posts on the Dead Sea or Bethlehem gets thousands of likes,” he said.

Chung, who is engaged to Greenberg — “the token Jew on the trip,” he remarked — commented that the general reaction to Israel “kind of baffles me,” she said. “Everyone thinks it’s so crazy and chaotic and yet it’s just like any other [place.] It’s kind of interesting to see the dynamic of what actually transpires.”

Her fiance, an actor who has appeared in “One Tree Hill,” “How to Make it in America” and more than 30 films, hadn’t been to Israel since his synagogue teen tour.

He was struck by the disparity of the news — they were in Israel during last week’s terrorist attack in a Har Nof synagogue — and the continuity of life, seen up close by the delegation during their visit.

“There’s something in the air here,” he said. “You can’t deny the violence, the wars that have been going on for thousands of years and that’s in the fiber of the people. But at the same time, it’s this extremely cosmopolitan place.”

The delegation spent time in Tel Aviv and then up north, where they heard shelling in Syria from their perch on the Golan Heights, drank Merlot and Syrah vintages at boutique wineries, and saw the spot on the Galilee where Jesus walked on water. In Jerusalem, they spent time at Yad Vashem and the Israel Museum, before walking around the Mahane Yehuda market.

“I feel like I’m connecting the dots,” said Yang. “I’ve been all over the world, and now it’s all kind of making sense, Israel isn’t just some intellectual issue to me; I’ve gotten to know its human elements.”

The country was just “news clips” before he made the trip, said Steve Byrne, a comedian. Now, he said, he feels like he has a better sense of the land and its history.

“You go to the market and you see life,” said Lee, a comedian and actor. “Some guy just kind of reached over and rubbed my head.”

“Jewish voodoo,” cracked Byrne.

On a more serious note, said Lin, who produced “The Lego Movie” and “Sherlock Holmes,” the visit helped clarify for him the identity of his Israeli friends in the US.

“We’re minorities in the US, and I don’t feel that Jews are minorities but I realized they are, like me, once I came here,” said Lin, whose family is Taiwanese.

Being in Israel creates a sense of familiarity and recognition, added Lee.

“Now I have a filter with which to understand the news,” he said. “Before, I didn’t have one.”