May 24, 2012 | 1:06 pm

New ad in Jewish Journal shows Sherman with Netanyahu, Barak; family photo not included

Posted by Jonah Lowenfeld

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Rep. Brad Sherman's ad in the May 25 edition of the Jewish Journal.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D - Sherman Oaks) may or may not have been joking when he told a TV reporter recently that voters would choose him if they saw pictures of his family. But a new pro-Sherman ad that appears in the current print edition of the Jewish Journal suggests that the eight-term Congressman is relying less on images with his wife and three daughters (and in some cases his mother) and more on pictures of himself with top Israeli officials.

The full-page ad appears on the glossy inside back cover of the May 25 edition of the Jewish Journal. “Brad Sherman. A powerful advocate for Israel,” reads the text at the top of the ad, which includes photographs of Sherman with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

The ad appears just days after Sherman told a TV reporter that his campaign’s decision to photoshop his mother out of a picture of his family sent to non-Jewish voters but leave her in the photo sent to Jewish voters was a way of drawing the press into publishing those pictures.

Days earlier, Sherman’s campaign spokesman explained the decision was made to clean up an “awkwardly composed” photo.

Sherman, answering a question from CBS/KCAL reporter Dave Bryan, said his campaign was “desperate to try to get the press to publish pictures of” his family and that they “scraped around to buy an ad in the Jewish Journal, because if people see my family they’re gonna vote for me.”

Sherman’s family doesn’t appear in the new ad in the Jewish Journal, which is aimed at burnishing his pro-Israel credentials.

“Brad Sherman is one of the strongest and most effective advocates for Israel in the United States Congress,” the ad’s text reads.

Such a description is sure to rankle Sherman’s primary opponent, Rep. Howard Berman (D - Van Nuys), who is also a strong supporter of Israel and is competing for the same pool of Jewish voters in the upcoming June 5 primary.

The Forward recently reported that prominent pro-Israel donors from around the country have donated to Berman’s campaign.

Berman also received a business leadership award from the Southern California Israel Chamber of Commerce on May 23, in recognition of his work to extend to Israeli investors a type of visa that they had not previously been eligible for.