Follow the Money: How Israel-Linked Billionaires Silenced US Campus Protests
MintPress NewsMay 22
Report: Israel Funding US Operations Targeting Anti-War Protests
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.