The $8 Million Influence Machine: Inside Israel’s Recent U.S. Propaganda Campaigns
Nearly $8 million in contracts. At least $675,000 already paid out. AI training to manipulate ChatGPT responses. Bot networks to “flood the zone” on social media. Influencers paid up to $7,372 per post.
This is the scale of Israel’s influence operation in America over the past few months only. Recent FARA filings expose a sophisticated, multi-pronged campaign mostly funneled through the global advertising giant Havas Media Group and a network of well-connected American PR firms. This is likely part of Israel $150 million dollar propaganda push approved at the end of 2024.
Foreign influence campaigns are a constant subject of speculation, but it is rare to get a detailed, factual look at the mechanics of how they operate.
As Arwa Mahdawi recently wrote these are “highly paid marketers and PR people in multinational firms” who are “busy rewriting history in real time” as Gaza burns and journalists are killed. As I have noted, dysinfluence is the product of the interaction between propaganda customers, and service providers offering a product, all modulated by willing social media companies.
The campaign is not the work of a single, monolithic PR giant. Instead, official filings reveal a coordinated effort that leverages a diverse network of firms, each hired to target a different segment of the U.S. public. While firms like Clock Tower X and Bridges Partners were contracted via Havas Media Group Germany, the Democratic-aligned SKDKnickerbocker was retained directly by the “Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
By retaining Bradley Parscale, a key architect of Trump’s digital strategy, alongside SKDK, a firm co-founded by a longtime Biden adviser, Israel obviously wish to inject their narratives into the highest levels of both Republican and Democratic circles. They also wish to target Gen Z, who they know they are losing. Some of the firms involved.
Clock Tower X LLC, a conservative-aligned firm led by former Trump campaign manager Bradley Parscale.
SKDKnickerbocker LLC, a prominent public relations firm aligned with the Democratic party.
Show Faith by Works, LLC, a firm with a singular focus on engaging American Christian communities.
Bridges Partners LLC, a consulting firm specializing in influencer outreach and “cultural interchange.”
A $6 Million contract is funding an AI-driven campaign to win over Gen Z.
The filings for Clock Tower X LLC, owned by Bradley Parscale, detail a particularly high-tech component of the campaign. The firm has a contract funded at $1,500,000 per month for four months, a total of $6 million. The stated purpose is to provide services “in support of Havas’ engagement by the State of Israel to develop and execute a nationwide campaign in the United States to combat antisemitism.” The primary target of this is America’s youngest generation of adults, whose support for Israel is declining.
“At least 80 percent of content is tailored to Gen Z audiences across platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, podcasts, and other relevant digital and broadcast outlets.”
Perhaps the most startling element of the strategy is its use of artificial intelligence not just to analyze public opinion, but to actively shape it. The plan includes using the “MarketBrew Al platform to improve the visibility and ranking of relevant narratives” in search engine results. Even more forward-looking is the plan to influence the AI models themselves. A key deliverable is the “Deployment of websites and content to deliver GPT framing results on GPT conversations.” Attempting to future-proof Israel’s reputation through LLM manipulation…
A major Democratic-aligned firm was hired to deploy a “bot-based program.”
The documents also reveal the contracting of SKDKnickerbocker LLC (who were incorporated by Stagwell Global LLC) for a total fee of $600,000. The firm was retained directly by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide media relations and strategic communications.
While their “Scope of Services” included traditional media outreach, it also contained a directive to deploy a more aggressive and controversial digital tactic. The contract explicitly called for the use of automated accounts “bots” to amplify messaging.
“Service Provider will develop a bot-based program on various social media channels (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, Linkedln and YouTube) that ‘floods the zone’ with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ pro-lsrael message.”
The use of the term “bot-based program” in a formal scope of services is itself remarkable, signaling a new level of normalization for tactics often associated with clandestine disinformation campaigns. According to a subsequent FARA filing, SKDKnickerbocker’s connection with the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs ended on August 29, 2025. This end date is significant, as the original contract was slated to run for a full year, until March 2026. However, SKDK claimed they dropped Israel as a client, which FARA filing ostensibly support. They also claimed they did not work on a ‘bot intiative’, despite this being in the contract.
A specialized firm is running Pro-Israel outreach and marketing to Christians.
Further demonstrating the campaign’s multi-levelled approach, another FARA registration reveals a hyper-targeted effort aimed at a specific American demographic. The firm Show Faith by Works, LLC, describes its business activity in its filing as “Pro-Israel outreach and marketing to Christians.” The documents show the firm received $325,881 from Havas Media for “Christian outreach in the Western US.” The informational materials developed under this contract are planned for dissemination among groups including “Churches and Christian Colleges and Christian Organizations.” This is a clear example of a “micro-influence” strategy, focusing significant resources on a specific, values-driven community identified as a key constituency. It wouldn’t be the first time, only recently Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chiklai was on the Christian Broadcasting Network riling up anger at Muslims. Let’s also not get into ‘Rev’ Johnny Moore running the Gaza ‘Humanitarian’ Foundation.
The campaign is paying social media influencers thousands of dollars per post.
The strategy also targets influencers. Reporting from Responsible Statecraft detailed an “Influencer Campaign” where influencers were expected to be paid between $6,143 to $7,372 per post to create pro-Israel content.
A firm named Bridges Partners LLC, whose owners are listed as Uri Steinberg and Yair Levi, filed as a foreign agent for its work to “Assist with promoting cultural interchange between united states and Israel.” The documents show that Bridges Partners was contracted by the “Government of Israel through Havas Media Group Germany” and received an advance of $199,985 for “campaign expenses.” Paying individual social media creators is a key, and expensive, part of the playbook for modern, state-backed influence campaigns.
Israel’s Genocidal Dysinfluence
The details laid bare in these FARA filings paint a clear picture of Israel’s dysinfluence operations. This spend represents about $8 million of a potential total of $150 million dollars. Bear in mind this spend is only from recent contracts. It also raises the important point about how many corporation and entities are profiting of legitimising and whitewashing genocide. When does that become complicity?
could you tell what FARA stands for? Thanks!