Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Tourism Minister Stas Meseznikov issued
last-minute personal pleas, urging the public to cast their votes for the Dead
Sea in the New 7 Wonders of Nature contest, which concludes Friday, 11/11/11, at
1:11 p.m. Israel time.
The Dead Sea, representing Israel, Jordan and the
Palestinian Authority, currently ranks among the top 10 of the 28 contestants
still remaining in the competition, sponsored by the New7Wonders
Foundation.
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Stressing the importance of a Dead Sea win to Israeli
tourism, the government has poured millions of shekels and led a wide-scale
public relations campaign toward securing the win since the spring. According to
the contest website and a tweet from the Tourism Ministry,
votes for the Dead
Sea have “accelerated” in the past day.
In his own words of outreach, the
prime minister emphasized that winning the competition would help further
development of the region.
“Winning will transform the Dead Sea into one
of the leading tourist sites in the world and will contribute greatly not only
to us, but also to other countries in the region, and will increase regional
cooperation,” Netanyahu said.
Meseznikov implored citizens to contribute
to this “national effort” in the last two days of the contest.
“We
believe in victory and strive for it,” Meseznikov said. “The meaning of a win
for the Dead Sea in the competition is the addition of hundreds of thousands of
new tourists, which will bring about the creation of thousands of new jobs,
contribute tens of millions of shekels to the state treasury and contribute to
the creation of a positive image for the state as an attractive tourist
destination.”
In the two days that remain, a national effort is required
for the last-minute encouragement of friends, relatives and acquaintances in
Israel and abroad to vote for the Dead Sea and bring it the coveted title, he
said.
In addition to government figures across the political spectrum,
the competition has gained the support of many Israeli artists, such as singer
Laila Malcos, photographer Elhanan Yair and fashion designer Osnat Subah, as
well as American naked installation giant Spencer Tunick. And on Wednesday
afternoon, the salty sea also gained the public backing of Israeli supermodel
Bar Refaeli.
At about 2 p.m.,
Refaeli tweeted: “Have you voted already
for the Dead Sea? Competition for New 7 Wonders of World is concluding in two
days!!!!! Text ‘Dead Sea’ to the number 2244.”
Until the contest’s
conclusion, voters can – as Refaeli mentioned – send SMS messages casting their
ballots for the Dead Sea by texting the words “Dead Sea” in English, Hebrew or
Arabic to the number 2244, or by
www.new7wonders.com or
www.votedeadsea.com.