Report: Israel Funding US Operations Targeting Anti-War Protests

Above: Pro-Israel protestors and Pro-Palestine protestors during a rally against the Baruch College Hillel campus organization at Baruch College on June 05, 2024 in New York City. Image copyright: Michael M. Santiago/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The 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.

  • 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.


The Spin

Pro-Palestine narrative

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

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.


Metaculus Prediction


Establishment split

CRITICAL

PRO

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