U.S. pro-Israel groups failed to disclose grants from Israeli government
forward.com/news/israel/45…
forward.com/news/israel/45…
"More than half of all American states have passed laws designed to combat the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel…"
"No advocacy group was more important to this push than the Israel Allies Foundation, an American non-profit that supports a network of pro-Israel legislators across the globe.” 3/
"It was the IAF that in 2014 connected a South Carolina politician with an Israeli legal scholar who drafted the first bill to ban state agencies from contracting with entities that boycott Israel.” 4/
"After that law passed in South Carolina in 2015, the IAF successfully lobbied for nearly-identical anti-BDS bills in 25 other states, including Florida, Pennsylvania and Arizona.” 5/
"Now the group is backing another bill, which has already passed in South Carolina and Florida and been introduced in six more states, which would change civil-rights codes to define antisemitism to include anti-Zionism.” 6/
"Public records obtained by The Forward show that the Israeli government approved a grant of more than $100k to the Israel Allies Foundation in 2019.” 7/
"The IAF has not disclosed this or any previous Israeli grants to the United States government, in possible violation of laws requiring American political advocacy groups to disclose foreign-government contributions...” 8/
"It is one of 11 American groups that received Israeli government funds, according to the documents, which show that the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs and a quasi-governmental organization it created have given at least $6.6 million to U.S. organizations since 2018.” 9/
Full report from Aiden Pink in the Forward: forward.com/news/israel/45…
"The Israeli government’s gifts to pro-Israel American entities — including more than $1 million each to Christians United for Israel and Aish Hatorah’s Hasbara Fellowships — were publicly unknown until the last few weeks…"
