Babes of Oy Land

You have to love those New York Post headlines.

Israeli female legislators are baring their anger over what they call a "pornographic" tourism campaign - featuring a bikini-clad Israeli beauty queen.

The racy photo of 2004 Miss Israel winner Gal Gadot appears on formal invitations to an event hosted in New York tonight by the Israeli Consulate in conjunction with Maxim magazine.

The affair is to "celebrate" the magazine's "Women of the Israeli Defense Forces" article in the July issue.

But prominent Israeli women say using sex to market the Land of Milk and Honey is "an outrage."

Former Consul-General Colette Avital, a member of the Israeli parliament, yesterday demanded an urgent meeting with the Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik to get an explanation of what she called the "pornographic campaign," the newspaper Yediot Achronoth reported.

The consulate in New York says the campaign is just seeking good demographics.

"We found that Israel's image among men 18-38 is lacking," David Saranga, consul for media and public affairs said.

"So we thought we'd approach them with an image they'd find appealing."

More at Maxim.