Report: Israel Funding US Operations Targeting Anti-War Protests
According to a joint investigation between journalists Lee Fang and Jack Poulson in collaboration with The Guardian, Israel has spent millions of dollars on a program, known as Voices of Israel, to influence Americans in the debate over the Gaza war. Voices of Israel is led by the Israeli Ministe...
Facts
- According to a joint investigation between journalists Lee Fang and Jack Poulson in collaboration with The Guardian, Israel has spent millions of dollars on a program, known as Voices of Israel, to influence Americans in the debate over the Gaza war. Voices of Israel is led by the Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli.1
- Voices is reportedly a redesign of a previous program called 'Concert' — known before that as Kela Shlomo — which was used to conduct 'mass consciousness activities' to combat anti-Israel movements in the US and Europe.2
- From October 2023 to May 2024, Voices reportedly spent $8.6M funding pro-Israel nonprofits. One of them, the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), was cited by US lawmakers during their congressional hearings with university officials this summer.3
- During an event in Florida in April, ISGAP chairman Natan Sharansky, who is also a former member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament), said the congressional hearings were 'the result of our report that all these universities... are taking a lot of money from Qatar.'2
- While ISGAP has been the largest funding recipient, including $445K in 2018, Voices has also funded the National Black Empowerment Council (NBEC) and an anti-disinformation group called CyberWell, which is run by former Israeli intelligence and Voices officials.1
Sources: 1Leefang, 2Guardian and 3The Cradle.
Narratives
- Pro-Palestine narrative, as provided by MintPress News. Israeli propaganda operations targeting US universities and pro-Palestine protests should be no surprise. The Israeli government, through its close ties to American billionaires, million-dollar joint US-Israel study abroad programs, and US lawmakers, has the power to threaten academic institutions with a withdrawal of funding should they go against the pro-Israel narrative. Unfortunately, these institutions cower in the face of being called antisemitic or losing donor money.
- Pro-Israel narrative, as provided by Aei. Israel isn't funding censorship in America — it's trying to combat other foreign countries that have funded the violent anti-Jewish encampments seen across American universities. While Qatar funds pro-Hamas protests due to antisemitic, anti-Israel bias, China funds such movements because it benefits from dividing Americans on an issue they otherwise wouldn't be divided on. Antisemitism isn't an organic American phenomenon — it's created by foreign entities focused on destroying Israel and the US, and supporting public information is vital.
