In July of 2023, just a few months before the horrific events of October 7 and the war we have all been suffering through subsequently, I was in Israel with my family for two weeks. It was an amazing journey filled with the beauty and magic that can only happen in the Holy Land, which brought us both King David and Jesus. But I was shocked at the time by the demonstrations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sponsored mostly through an Israeli NGO called Blue and White Future. They were too well organized to be “organic,” and clearly seemed like BLM 2.0 in their tone and behavior. Now, with the latest information uncovered by DOGE about USAID, we know that I was right: They were not organic Israeli demonstrations, but were unknowingly funded by U.S. taxpayers.
As an alumnus of UC Berkeley (1984), I have some experience with organic demonstrations. They never start or end on time, and are always chaotic. But in Israel, I saw protests against Netanyahu that were produced like a well-oiled machine. I was in my hotel room in Jerusalem and saw from my window an “organic demonstration” start promptly at 10:00pm; end exactly at 10:30pm; and be run by coordinators using a high-end professional sound system that must have cost at least $5000. It just didn’t look like any demonstration I had ever seen before.
Jerusalem right now. Hundreds of paid protestors walking in circles around the tourist area of Ben Yehuda St with microphones and drums. A recap of early BLM riots. Will Israel learn from US mistakes and let them terrorize and cause chaos? pic.twitter.com/lFgoRj2hVd
— Rabbi Michael Barclay (@Rabbi_Barclay) July 23, 2023
And this was consistent throughout the country. Expensive billboards in Tel Aviv had a black fist (ala Black Power salute) on a bright yellow background with the Hebrew word “Resist” in large letters. Marches were taking place that had food stands along the way giving out free juices, sandwiches, and even expensive sun umbrellas by the thousands. This seemed to clearly be an extremely well-funded and well-planned attempt at a political coup against Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli elected officials.
Thanks to the good work being done to dismantle USAID, we now know that it was just that: an attempt to create political upheaval and hurt Netanyahu. Much of the funding came through USAID, which in 2023 gave NIS 14,000,000 (almost 4 million USD) to Blue and White Future and the Kaplan protest.
A little research on Blue and White Future leads to even more disturbing information. It is a NGO that has a history of operating outside the legalities of Israel and possibly the U.S., and was part of the financial sponsorship of the Kaplan Force, which was “moving from defense to attack against what they called a dictatorship.” Formed in 2009, the organization was originally created to promote a two-state solution through surrendering Israeli territory. But in 2013, the Obama State Department (probably as an act of revenge against Netanyahu, who was not going along with Obama’s anti-Israel foreign policy) provided funds for One Voice, a partner of Blue and White Future, and in 2015 they worked together on the anti-Netanyahu political campaign Victory 15 using U.S. taxpayer money to try to influence Israel's election.
By 2023, Blue and White Future had hired the Washington-based public relations firm Trident DMG, founded by Democratic Party strategist Josh Galper, former CNN journalist Eleanor McManus, and infamous Clinton allies and attorneys Adam Goldberg and Lanny Davis. Blue and White not only got involved in the protests that I saw in Israel, but used American media outlets and social media. It even took out a full-page ad in the New York Times to attack Netanyahu. As a result of all this a few things happened: Many Americans started having a negative view of Netanyahu; an investigation was opened up in Israel if find out if these protests were actually an attempt at a coup; and a perceived divisiveness was projected both within Israel and between Israel and the U.S.
Let’s be clear: Without that perceived divisiveness, Hamas would never have planned the evils of October 7. If Israel had been perceived as unified, and if the alliance between the U.S. and Israel had been perceived as strong, the kidnappings, rapes, and murders of October 7 would not have happened.
As an American Jewish leader, I put a large portion of blame for October 7 at the feet of Joe Biden, Barak Obama, and the Democratic hypocrites who betrayed Israel, the Jewish people, and Western Civilization. President Trump is 100% correct when he says that had he been president, the horrors of October 7 would not have happened.
Thanks to DOGE, it is clear that Biden and company supported Blue and White Future and its affiliated organizations not only with their words, but with hidden direct contributions of American taxpayers’ money. For misusing taxpayer money, USAID should be dissolved. Against the evils they created through their financial improprieties, we need to fight.
As Americans, we need to reject the anti-Netanyahu propaganda that Blue and White Future foisted upon us, and embrace wholeheartedly the Gaza plan elucidated by Trump and Netanyahu this past week. It is a plan that I have personally been supporting for over a year; (although I suggested turning Gaza into a “Cannes of the Middle East” rather than a Riviera) and if really thought through, this plan has a tremendous potential to create a long-lasting peace between Israel and her neighbors. The more on examines Trump’s plan, which takes into account the fallacy of “palestine”, the potential of Gaza, and the politics of the region, the more clear it is that this is a plan that can work.
If we support his plan for Gaza, there can be a true peace in the region. And if we totally dissolve USAID, the United States will have both more integrity and more funds.
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