Israeli Influence Campaigns on U.S. Campuses Investigated

Israeli Influence Campaigns on U.S. Campuses Investigated

June 24, 2024

Glenn Greenwald - System Update

Journalists Lee Fang and Jack Poulson

Last November, just weeks into the war in Gaza, Amichai Chikli, a brash, 42-year-old Likud minister in the Israeli government, was called into the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, to brief lawmakers on what could be done about rising anti-war protests from young people across the United States, especially at elite universities.

“I've said it before, and I'll say it again now, that I think we should, especially in the United States, be on the offensive,” argued Chikli.

Chikli has since led a targeted push to counter critics of Israel. We have uncovered evidence showing how Israel has relaunched a controversial entity as part of a broader public relations campaign to target U.S. college campuses and redefine antisemitism in U.S. law.

Seconds after a smoke alarm subsided during the hearing, Chikli assured the lawmakers that there was new money in the budget for a pushback campaign, which was separate from more traditional public relations and paid advertising content produced by the government. It included 80 programs already underway for advocacy efforts “to be done in the ‘Concert’ way,” he said.

The “Concert” remark referred to a sprawling relaunch of a controversial Israeli government program initially known as Kela Shlomo, designed to carry out what Israel called “mass consciousness activities” targeted largely at the U.S. and Europe. Concert, now known as Voices of Israel, previously worked with groups spearheading a campaign to pass so-called “anti-BDS” state laws that penalize Americans for engaging in boycotts or other nonviolent protests of Israel.

Its latest incarnation is part of a hardline and sometimes covert operation by the Israeli government to strike back at student protests, human rights organizations, and other voices of dissent.

https://www.leefang.com/p/israeli-documents-show-expansive

Original: https://youtu.be/Fzz1Zsf26XY

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