Amendment-191S4023Q5540-0002.pdf

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

PAGE OF PAGES

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO.

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

Feb 09, 2023

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO.

PR11265540

5. PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

6. ISSUED BY CODE

7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6)

CODE

American Embassy

18 Agron Road

Jerusalem

Contracting Officer

GSO Annex

4 Hagalgal Street, Talpiot

Jerusalem

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (NO., street,city,county,State,and ZIP Code)

9a. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

191S40-23Q5540

9b. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

Jan 05, 2023

10a. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

10b. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

[X ] The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers [ ] is extended, [X ] is not extended.

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods: (a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning 1 copy of the amendment;(b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or© By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers.

FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF

OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required)

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE

CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b)

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor [ ] is not, [ ] is required to sign this document and return copy to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

The purpose of this amendment is to:

1. Revise the proposal submittal method in the Letter to Prospective Offeror. See continuation pages.

2. Incorporate Attachment A: Questions and Answers raised during the pre-proposal conference, that was held on

February 1, 2023 at 12:30 at the US Embassy Jerusalem. See continuation pages - Attachment A.

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print) 16A. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER

Kurt Pearson

15B. NAME OF CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

BY

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

15C.DATE

SIGNED

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

BY

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

16C.DATE SIGNED

Feb 09, 2023

SF30

Amendment # 0002 Solicitation # 191S4023Q5540

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Continuation Sheet

1. Letter to Prospective Offerors: The method for submitting the proposals is hereby revised as follows:

Proposals can be either submitted electronically by email to the Contracting Officer at the following email address: JRSEMBProposals@state.gov or by hand delivery in sealed envelops to the

Contracting Office located at 4 HaGalgal Street, Talpiot, Jeusalem. The due date for submitting the bids remains unchanged on Thursday, February 16, 2023 no later than 14:00 Israel local time.

If submitted electronically by email, the subject line should read: “Proposal for Solicitation #

191S4023Q5540”. It is important to make sure the submission is made in specific size and format; in

MS-Word 2007/2010 or MS-Excel 2007/2010 or Adobe Acrobat (pdf) file format. The file size must not exceed 30MB. If the file size should exceed the 30MB, the submission must be made in separate files and attached to separate emails with less than 30MB each.

2. Incorporate Attachment A: Answers to the questions that were raised during the pre-proposal conference, that was held on February 1, 2023 at 13:00 at the US Embassy Jerusalem.

See Attachment A.

mailto:JRSEMBProposals@state.gov

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ATTACHMENT A

Questions & Answers

Pre-Proposal Conference

Palestinian Media Reaction Services Solicitation # 191S4023Q5540

A pre-proposal conference conducted by the Contracting Office and Public Diplomacy Office, attended virtually and in person by representatives from 14 companies, was held at the US Embassy Jerusalem on

February 1, 2023 to discuss the Palestinian Media Reaction Services solicitation terms and statement of work.

The following are the questions and answers raised during the conference and/or sent by email:

Question 1: How long is the Media Reaction Report?

Answer: From two (2) pages to no more than six (6) pages, single-spaced.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document page 9 - C3

Question 2: For the Monday summary, do you want each day of the weekend as a separate report?

Answer: No. The Monday product will cover news from the immediate previous Friday after 07:00, all

Saturday, all Sunday, and that same Monday early morning, till 07:00 (local Jerusalem time).

Reference: See the Solicitation Document page 10 - C5

Question 3: What’s the number of headlines?

Answer: All are detailed in the provided sample. Local Headlines about the U.S. (two to five); Security

Incidents (up to ten); Key Palestinian Headlines (three to ten); Trending Social Media (two to three); and up to two daily political cartoons.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document pages 7 – 9 - B, and pages 14 –15, Exhibit A.

Question 4: What type of U.S. Headlines?

Answer: All significant news items in Palestinian media outlets and regional Arabic outlets mentioning the

United States-Palestinian relations, whether activities are in the Palestinian Territories’ or U.S. news, in general.

To include both digital and print.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document page 7 - B, and page 14, Exhibit A.

Question 5: How do you want security updates to be reported and cited?

Answer: Short one or two sentence summaries of up to ten bulleted significant security-related news items. For citation, there should be an indication of all of the news sources from which the security incidents were taken that should be included at the end of the bulleted list of Security Incidents. For newspapers, include the page number where the story appeared.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document pages 7-8 - B, and page 14 - Exhibit A.

Question 6: Do you want an explanation of the cartoon?

Answer: Yes, a translation of anything in the cartoon from Arabic to English should be provided. Where a cartoon is vague or unclear, a brief explanatory Editor’s Note should be included (e.g., “Editor’s Note:

Referring to XX, …”) to provide the local context so readers understand the cartoon, with identifying the source and date of publication of the cartoon.

Reference: See Solicitation Document page 9-B/Daily Political Cartoon and page 15 – Exhibit A

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Question 7: Which outlets should be covered in the Media Reaction? What about subscriptions?

Answer: All outlets are mentioned in the Scope of Work, page 9 – 10 C2 and C6.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document page 9 – 10, C2 and C6.

Question 8: How do we cite sources?

Answer: Provide the news source and the page number and section of the paper here as well as any links that go straight to the story. See example in the sample.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document pages 14 –15, Exhibit A.

Question 9: Should we include op-eds?

Answer: Any major editorials (Op-Eds) from Palestinian leaders, influencers, key academics, important religious figure, or otherwise noteworthy figures. To include both digital and print.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document page 8 - B/ Key Palestinian Headlines.

Question 10: What is the Editor’s Note?

Answer: The Editor’s Note is a note from the vendor to U.S. government readers that provides additional information or local/cultural context on a news item, which might be confusing to a reader unfamiliar with the subject being reported. It could also be to provide a brief factual background on the subject. It is not a note from the newspaper/publication’s editor.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document pages 7 – 11 section B, and pages 14 –15, Exhibit A.

Question 11: Will there be an additional sample of the MR?

Answer: No, the sample in the solicitation provided clearly details the needed and desired Scope of Work. A

POC from the OPA Press Section will be identified to give instructions to the selected Contractor and the

Contractor shall work under the supervision of the POC.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document page 10 - C8, and pages 14 –15, Exhibit A.

Question 12: Does the company need to include its analysis in the MR?

Answer: No. The requirement is for translation that includes compiling and drafting daily Palestinian Media

Reaction of the essential media coverage in the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document page 7, Description/Specification/Work Statement.”

Question 13: Why is it mentioned 07:00 am and 08:00 am as deadlines?

Answer: 07:00 AM is not a deadline. 08:00 AM The daily product should include a summary of news coverage drawing from the previous day’s and current early morning’s (up to 07:00 local time the same day of the report) headlines. The daily product should be delivered Monday through Friday morning before 08:00 local time unless there is a holiday per the holiday schedule.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document page 7, sections A and B, and pages 36 – 37.

Question 14: Should the contractor’s staff be Jerusalem-based?

Answer: No. The solicitation is open to all interested vendors qualified to successfully perform the requirements of the contract. The Contractor needs to be able to secure print versions of the three Palestinian dailies to produce the media reaction.

Reference: Link: https://il.usembassy.gov/business/contract-solicitations/ Solicitation#191S4023Q5540

Palestinian Media Reaction Services. https://sam.gov/ https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fil.usembassy.gov%2Fbusiness%2Fcontract-solicitations%2F&data=05%7C01%7CFarrajMB%40state.gov%7C2feed7cf239e4b3a543c08db0a0eee00%7C66cf50745afe48d1a691a12b2121f44b%7C0%7C0%7C638114831454388669%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=DouUQaQpvKCXlR7ibsvQQzUcuWlI1IX%2Bie2M9hpCgTM%3D&reserved=0 https://sam.gov/

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Question 15: How big should the vendor’s team be?

Answer: No specific team size is required. Regardless of the contractor’s team size, the contractor must be available between 08:00 – 10:00 local Jerusalem time for any clarifications required on the daily report.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document page 7, section B and page 10 C4.

Question 16: Will you request follow up during the day beyond the 8-10 am timeframe? Will you request extra translations and summaries?

Answer: No. Per the announced solicitation, the contractor must be available between 08:00 – 10:00 local

Jerusalem time to clarify any missing information, translations from Arabic to English, or correct formatting issues working with the Embassy POC. The Embassy POC will be allowed to reach out to the Contractor and request special emphasis on various issues of specific interest.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document page 7, section B.

Question 17: What constitutes a mistake?

Answer: See Solicitation Document page 12-13, section D.1 Quality Assurance and Surveillance Plan (QASP).

Question 18: Who are the social media influencers we should follow or include in the daily report?

Answer: See the Solicitation Document section B, page 8, Trending Social Media and Exhibit A, page 15, Trending Social Media.

Question 19: Can we submit our offer in USD currency? And what will be the rate of exchange?

Answer: See FAR Clause 52.225-17, page 46.

Question 20: Can US companies submit their offer in NIS currency?

Answer: Yes. All invoices must be submitted in NIS and the bank account must accept NIS funds.

Question 21: Are US companies required to pay local VAT to the Israeli Government?

Answer: No. US companies are exempt from VAT.

Question 22: What do you mean by the contract minimum of $10,000 and not to exceed $80,000 mentioned under the pricing tables?

Answer: The Embassy guarantees that it shall place orders totaling a minimum of $10,000 every year.

The not to exceed amount of $80,000 is the maximum amount allowed per year off all orders made against the

IDIQ contract that will be awarded off this solicitation.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document pages 4-7 and page 34, clause 52.216-22.

Question 23: What are the estimated monthly hours for this effort?

Answer: The contract is a set monthly fee, not hourly or by employee. The contractor is responsible for determing staffing levels and hours for workers to deliver the services required.

Reference: See the Solicitation Document page 12 C.10.

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