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Judge Richard Goldstone's review of last winter's war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has resulted in a increased global atmosphere of anti-Semitism, said Yuli Edelstein, Israel's minister of public affairs and Diaspora at a press conference in New York Jan 26.

"Even if it was not the original intention, it gives a 'basis' to anti-Semites, Jew-haters, and Israel haters," Edelstein said of the Goldstone Report, which has been criticized both in Israel and abroad for its perceived bias against Israel.

Last week, the Israeli Ministry of Public Affairs and Diaspora along with the Jewish Agency for Israel issued a report on global anti-Semitic incidents in 2009, noting the highest level of anti-Semitic incidences since 1990, the earliest data available.

Edelstein said that he discussed this rise in anti-Semitism with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon when visiting the U.N. to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

"This will be the worst year insofar as the number of anti-Semitic incidences, the nature of the anti-Semitic incidences, sometimes which are violent in nature," Edelstein said, explaining that they were spread out and could not be explained by a disproportionate rise in a single nation.

This rise in anti-Semitism, according to Edelstein, has led to a situation where a major Swedish newspaper feels it is acceptable to run a slanderous article accusing Israeli soldiers of harvesting Palestinian children's organs or where Internet rumors suggesting that Israel is in Haiti in the wake of the country's devastating earthquake, not to help, but rather to harvest organs are widespread. "I look and see my children and my neighbor's children and I think that's not anyone I know, that's not the IDF," he said.

Edelstein said that the Israeli government was also "very worried about the situation on [university] campuses" in the Diaspora, where acceptable political disagreements have given way to intimidation, harassment, and even accusations of blood-libel.

"We are very aware of the difficulties that pro-Israel activists are facing," he said.

As the minister of public affairs, or hasbara in Hebrew, Edelstein is tasked with promoting and safeguarding Israel's image internationally.

"We want to make sure we're hitting the right chord," he said of Israel's public relations efforts.

Edelstein said that it is important for the international community to see Israel beyond the narrative of conflict and war that dominates the media.

"I know it sounds like a cliché, but changing the minds of what people think about when they think about Israel," he said, citing Tel-Aviv's nightlife, Jerusalem's holy sites, and the vigorous political debates that take place within the country.

"Where's the rest of the picture of Israel?" he asked rhetorically.

Edelstein said promoting a different, more positive image of Israel is most effectively accomplished not when a government official like himself speaks on behalf of his country, but rather when the efforts are grassroots, through programs like Birthright and the Maccabiah Games or online social networks like Twitter and Facebook.

"The best hasbara is when it's not called hasbara," he said, adding that this effort had to be proactive rather than defensive.

"When I say being on offense, I don't mean spitting and yelling," he said. "We have a story to tell."

Edelstein also spoke about the stalled Israel-Palestinian peace process, which he said was not likely to result in any sort of agreement in the near future given the conditions on the ground.

"There's no political situation around the corner," he said, adding that despite this reality, there were still areas in which the two sides could cooperate, such as on economic, agricultural, or water-related issues.

"I'm an optimist," Edelstein said. "Conditions in the Middle East in the course of time will change. In the meantime, there are small steps we can take to create a better environment."

Edelstein also discussed the challenge of creating a pluralistic Jewish society, which he said is largely pursued through "trial and error."

"The state respects and understands the differences in the Jewish tradition," he said.

In response to a question about Annat Hoffman's arrest after she wore a tallit at the Kotel, Edelstein said that this situation raised a "difficult philosophical question." The government, he said, had a responsibility to respect the right of Hoffman to practice her religion without interference and likewise respect the right of the Haredi community to practice theirs.

"If I'm talking for the Israeli government and not as Yuli Edelstein, who has his own opinions, I can't take sides," he said. "I can't take the side of Hoffman and I can't take the side of the Haredim."