Israel Is Bleeding Support in the U.S. - and Pouring Tens of Millions Into Trying to Change That

[Ponietz]

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/security-aviation/2026-06-18/ty-article/bleeding-support-in-u-s-over-failed-iran-war-israel-triples-its-influence-efforts-there/0000019e-db73-d2be-abbf-fbffca7b0000

Israel is deepening its influence efforts in the United States in a bid to halt the collapse of its standing among the conservative right.

Haaretz has learned that the Israeli government is paying over $40 million for an influence campaign aimed at Christian Republicans – three times the budget originally allocated to it. The campaign launched late last year, and it's now expanding and focusing its messaging on an attempt to justify the war in Iran. Documents filed with the U.S. Justice Department further reveal that Israel has signed a new contract with a New York production company to produce a pro-Israel digital storytelling campaign for it, at a cost of nearly $1 million.

Haaretz revealed last November that Israel had signed agreements worth millions of dollars with American content and media companies to run pro-Israel campaigns aimed at Christian conservatives on its behalf, against the backdrop of the plunge in support for Israel since the war in Gaza, including among segments of the public traditionally considered pro-Israel.

The central contract, worth $6 million, was signed with a public relations firm owned by Brad Parscale, who ran U.S. President Donald Trump's digital election campaigns in 2016 and 2020. In February, Haaretz exposed some of the products that the firm delivered, chief among them a network of propaganda sites featuring pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian content, designed to appear neutral and factual. The sites' central aim was to influence the answers provided by search engines and AI-based chatbots.