Appearing before the Israeli parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official explained why Israel, locked in conflict with the Palestinians, was having image problems internationally.

“The Arabs, our adversaries, have succeeded in doing to us what ‘Borat’ did to Kazakhstan,” Ido Aharoni said, displaying a photograph of the fictional Kazakh TV journalist created by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

Baron Cohen poked fun at the former Soviet country in the highly successful 2006 movie, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” The Borat film portrayed Kazakhstan as a nation of horse urine-drinking racists.

“There is no concept about who we really are,” Aharoni said, citing a survey the ministry conducted that found that many Americans and Europeans see Israel mainly in the context of the Middle East conflict.

As an example, he showed a dramatic photograph of a Palestinian youth, rock in hand, standing defiantly in front of an Israeli tank.

Aharoni said the Foreign Ministry, through a ”Brand Israel” public relations project, hoped to change Israel’s international image and portray the country in more “human” terms.