Dialsmith

KEEVOON Research, Strategy & Communications is a survey research and strategic communications consultancy based in Jerusalem, Israel. Founded by Mitchell Barak, KEEVOON specializes in consumer research and political consulting throughout Europe and the Middle East. MSInteractive is fortunate to have KEEVOON as one of its clients and below Mitchell tells us a bit about his business, the current political climate in Israel, their viewes of U.S. politics, and how he uses the Perception Analyzer in his business.

DP: Hello, Mitchell. What
is your background and how did you get into political research? 

MB: Hi, David. I studied Political Science at George
Washington University before moving to Israel in 1991.  Since arriving
here I have worked in various Government offices serving 3 Prime Ministers;
Yitzhak Shamir, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon.  I was always
involved in speech writing, developing messages, and writing talking points for
media interviews and appearances.  About 5 years ago I left Government
service and moved into the private sector utilizing my experience in messaging
and combining it with survey research.  I conducted surveys and focus
groups with both Arthur Finkelstein and Frank Luntz.

DP: What is the
current political climate in your region of the world? How has it changed in
the last five years and how do you see it changing in the next five years? 

MB: The political climate in Israel is always
changing.  Governments here lack stability and are not broad based enough
to stay in power.  Governing becomes secondary to keeping the coalition
alive.  As far as the region, Israel is a democracy in a sea of
dictatorships, monarchies, and entities headed by terrorist organizations.

DP: What do people in
your region make of the U.S. political system since 2000 and what is the
impression of our current election cycle? 

MB: Everyone in Israel is very interested in the
elections in the US.  For some reason Israel is a campaign stop during all
election campaigns by all major candidates for national office.

DP: How did you
become familiar with the Perception Analyzer and how is it being received in
Israel and other regions in which your work? 

MB: I was first introduced to the Perception Analyzer by Frank
Luntz who used in the 1988 election campaign here.  Since then I have seen
how it has developed and improved.  Israelis are excited about the Perception Analyzer and
in a short time I have done sessions for Channel 10 News on one of the
political parties and for one of the largest Israeli consumer product
companies. While it's in Hebrew, here is a news story about recent work I did utilizing the Perception Analyzer for the Kadima Party Primaries for Channel 10 news.