Israel increasingly relying on foreign agents to expand influence in US: Report

Israel is increasingly relying on foreign agents, rather than traditional US allies like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), to expand its influence in the US, according to a new Quincy Institute paper released Friday.

The paper, titled The Eighth Front: Inside Israel’s $1 Billion Influence Campaign, was authored by Nick Cleveland-Stout, a research associate at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

Since 2023, Israel has spent more than $1 billion on public diplomacy, including over $100 million on US influence efforts disclosed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). It is on pace to become the largest FARA spender this year.

Seventeen firms registered under FARA to represent Israeli interests in 2024–2025, including Brad Parscale’s Clock Tower X, which holds a $46.5 million contract. The firm disclosed efforts to shape AI chatbot outputs by seeding pro-Israel content into Large Language Model training data through a network of websites.

FARA filings show Israel also funded influencer campaigns and mass texting. It paid $161,000 to Yoav Davis, who runs the Jews of NY Instagram account, and $900,000 to Bridges Partners to compensate more than a dozen influencers, none of whom registered as foreign agents, according to the paper.

Much of the campaign is coordinated through Havas Media, which has subcontracted seven FARA-registered firms since 2024, including US public affairs and political communications firm SKDK and Bridges Partners.

These efforts target groups with declining support for Israel, such as young Americans, Evangelicals, and conservatives. In September 2025, Havas signed a $3.2 million deal with Show Faith by Works for a "geofencing" campaign targeting US churchgoers with pro-Israel ads, the paper said.

The influence push comes as Israel faces growing criticism in the US, including from members of Congress and Vice President JD Vance. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit Washington next week for talks with President Donald Trump.

"Israel’s new tactics are transforming America’s influence landscape, but they have so far proved insufficient to counter the erosion in public support that is being driven by Israel’s deeply unpopular policies," according to Cleveland-Stout.