The British Guardian newspaper said that the Israeli government sought legal advice on a US federal law requiring disclosure of foreign-backed lobbying campaigns, fearing that implementing the law would lead to the entrapment of American groups working in coordination with the Israeli government, according to leaked documents reviewed by the newspaper.

Emails and legal memos obtained from the hack of the Israeli Ministry of Justice - as reported by Lee Fang and Jack Paulson for the newspaper - show that officials feared that Israel’s advocacy efforts in the United States would trigger the US law governing foreign agents.

Indeed, as the documents show, the officials proposed creating a new American non-profit organization in order to continue Israel’s activities in the United States while avoiding scrutiny under the law.

Establishing a Nonprofit

A legal strategy memo dated July 2018 noted that compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) would damage the reputation of many American groups that receive funding and direction from Israel, and force them to meet onerous transparency requirements, so donors are reluctant to fund groups registered under FARA.

FARA requires people working on behalf of a foreign government to register as foreign agents with the US Department of Justice, and to avoid that, the memo says, the law requires registrants to “report any piece of propaganda distributed to two or more parties in the United States, with a disclaimer stating that it was delivered by a foreign agent, and then provide a copy of it to the US Department of Justice within 48 hours.”

The legal advisers suggested channeling the money through an American nonprofit affiliated with an outside party. “Although the nonprofit will not be formally run by Israel, we will have oversight and management, through grant-making, informal coordination mechanisms, oral meetings and updates,” said Liat Glazer, then-legal adviser to Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs.

The FARA discussions focused on a “public relations commando unit” formed by Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs in 2017 to improve Israel’s image abroad. Known as Israel Voices, its primary mission was to undermine the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement that targets Israel in protest of its policies toward the Palestinians.

Anti-boycott

Throughout its history, the group has supported American nonprofits that advocate for anti-boycott laws against Israel, and has coordinated campaigns to block pro-Palestinian activities on American college campuses.

The leaked emails and documents were published by Distributed Daniel of Secrets, a non-profit organization responsible for publishing a number of high-profile hacks in recent years, the newspaper said, and the original source of the documents was a group calling itself Anonymous for Justice, a group that describes itself as an “activist hacking group.”

Earlier this year, the Guardian exclusively reported that Voices of Israel was relaunched shortly after the Gaza war broke out, with Amichai Chikli, the Likud Knesset’s Diaspora Affairs Minister, reporting that the group was ready to “attack” American students protesting the Gaza war.

An Israeli legal memo in July 2018 noted that “in the past, FARA has been applied to countries hostile to the United States,” such as Russia and Pakistan, and warned that the new climate of enforcement, given the ties between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Republican nominee Donald Trump, could lead to a formal investigation by the US Department of Justice.

The risks of FARA

In response, the documents show, the Israeli government hired Sandler Reif, a prominent Washington election and campaign law firm, to analyze the FARA risks posed by Concert and other Israeli advocacy efforts to shape American policy and public opinion.

Another memo from 2018 said the increased public interest in FARA was due to “the investigation into Donald Trump and officials in his administration suspected of acting as foreign agents of the Russian government.”

According to the document, senior Israeli advisers, who argued that “donors are not interested in donating to groups registered under FARA,” advised creating a new U.S. nonprofit through which Israel Voices could funnel money.

The need for secrecy

The documents cite concerns from American groups about the launch of FARA, concerns that officials say have hampered their ability to conduct advocacy in the United States, with several American Jewish organizations even declining funding over FARA concerns.

In a 2019 email, Glazer noted that if it became public that Israel had sought legal advice on FARA, it could “raise allegations that Israel seeks to interfere unacceptably in American affairs and provoke a public debate about a sensitive issue in Israeli-American relations.”

To avoid potential public relations fallout, Glazer urged secrecy surrounding the Israeli government’s appointment of Sandler Reif, the American law firm retained to study the case, warning that “revealing the name of the law firm could jeopardize the entire relationship.”

The documents show grants from Israel Voices to several American advocacy groups, including Christian Zionist organizations that have been involved in helping pass the state’s anti-boycott laws, which penalize Americans for engaging in certain forms of boycotts targeting the Israeli government.

In 2018, the Department of Strategic Affairs approved a $445,000 grant to the Institute for the Study of Antisemitism and Global Politics, which has expanded its advocacy role in recent months, saying it influenced a controversial congressional hearing with elite college presidents, met regularly with congressional leaders and urged investigations into pro-Palestinian student protesters. 

Source: The Guardian