When the “Holy Land” Turns into Real Estate: National Identity, Globalization/Americanization, and Representation of the Land in Israeli Advertising

This article aims to broaden the discourse on national identity as a social and cultural construct by revealing the fluidity of its most fundamental symbol—the land. This discussion is extremely relevant in the cases of small countries living under the custody of globalization, primarily Americanization. While most noticeable scholars who write about national identity focus on “high” and “official” culture, we suggest looking at one of the most prominent products of popular culture—advertisement. This study utilizes qualitative analysis, based on a semiotic interpretation using 489 Israeli advertisements as the stage performing of “banal nationalism.” Looking at two broad categories, national symbols and spatial identity, we found a new real estate discourse in which Americanicity is an integral part of the neo-liberal discourse in Israeli society. In other words, the motherland turns into real estate.