As Weiss’s news organization explores a deal to sell to CBS, much of its content on the Middle East is produced by a shadowy think tank tied to pro-Israel advocacy.
In early June, The Free Press (FP), a publication started by former New York Times Opinion Columnist and Editor Bari Weiss, published an exclusive interview with Yasser Abu Shabab, a Bedouin who leads an Israeli-backed militia in the Gaza Strip. At the time of the interview, the Israeli military was said to be working with Shabab to undermine Hamas’s control of the territory by fomenting an insurgency to aid Israel’s military offensive. Shabab is seen as highly unpopular among Palestinians, due to allegations of involvement in the narcotics trade, stealing and reselling humanitarian aid, and past ties to the extremist group the Islamic State.
The Free Press interview with Shabab offered him a chance to sell himself and his “anti-terror” militia, called the “Popular Forces,” while responding to the charges that he was tied to ISIS and had previously been jailed on drug trafficking charges. “All this talk is lies and slander against us,” Shabab told the Free Press in an audio message and video later posted online. “We categorically reject this extremist ideology. We believe in peace, and we believe in secular governance.” Last week, The Wall Street Journal also published an op-ed written by Shabab expressing his readiness to support Israel’s takeover of Gaza, notwithstanding previous Israeli news reports that the would-be militant leader is illiterate.
[Also see this on Bari Weiss]
The FP interview was co-published with an organization called “The Center for Peace Communications” (CPC), but the nature of the organization that helped set up the interview with Shabab was left undisclosed. The CPC is a non-profit organization whose board of directors includes multiple senior figures drawn from pro-Israel think tanks in Washington, DC, including the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The CPC has helped the FP to produce reporting on the Middle East that is aligned with the shifting strategic goals and public relations needs of the Israeli government, with the organization cited as the source for FP content on the region in a steady stream of stories since 2023.
The most high-profile board member at the CPC is Dennis Ross, one of the most prominent supporters of Israel in DC who has served in multiple U.S. administrations, including as a former special assistant to President Barack Obama.
The founder and president of the organization, Joseph Braude, pled guilty to charges of smuggling stolen antiques out of Iraq following the 2003 U.S. invasion. In the FP video detailing Shabab’s plans to take over control of the Gaza Strip with Israeli support, Braude appears as a commentator, defending Shabab from allegations of extremist ties, stating that, “I am fairly confident that he is not ISIS,” though conceding that “one cannot preclude” that he may have had ties with the group in the past.
In addition to its profile of Shabab, the FP has published other high-profile video content sourced to the CPC. Other co-published projects include a video series called “Hezbollah’s Hostages,” featuring the anonymous voices of individuals who claimed to have witnessed or experienced the group’s involvement in crimes including drug and sex trafficking, as well as “Voices from Gaza,” another set of anonymously voiced testimonies of Palestinian civilians, this time claiming that they blame Hamas for the war and even support the Israeli military assault on the territory.
“We welcome any change that will save us from this indignation called Hamas,” one individual identified only as “Ashraf,” said in a video dated a few weeks after the Israeli military campaign began, “whether by Jews or non-Jews.”
The Fake Press
Since the October 7 attacks in Israel, and the escalating Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip, the FP has emerged as perhaps the most unflinching supporter of the Israeli government and its policies in the U.S. media. While the publication first began with a focus on criticizing American progressive culture, since October 7 it has become essentially a mouthpiece for Israeli government positions. Even as the death toll in the Gaza Strip may have risen above six figures, according to some estimates, while Israeli leadership has made their plans for forcible ethnic cleansing explicit, the FP’s support has not wavered.
During this time the CPC appears to have served as a vehicle to help launder pro-Israel content of uncertain origins through the filter of a news organization. In addition to its prominent board members, the CPC’s staff members include many people whose careers have extensively focused on promoting Israel’s interests in the region and in Washington.
According to tax documents the center earned $1.5 million in grants in 2023. The Tina Snider Foundation, which gave $200,000 to the center in 2022 and $175,000 the following year is a major donor. The foundation headed by Tina Snider, also a board member of the center, was created from the estate of former Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider, and gives to a range of ideological pro-Israel causes, including the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and The Lawfare Project. In recent years the center has also enjoyed financial support from a number of other pro-Israel philanthropic organizations, including the Adelson Family Foundation which gave $150,000 in 2023.
The Free Press and the Center for Peace Communications did not respond to request for comment for this story.
The FP’s partnership with the center comes at a time when the news outlet, launched just three years ago with support from Silicon Valley venture capitalists, has been reportedly exploring a lucrative sale for up to $250 million—an amount that far exceeds the roughly $15 million a year that it is estimated to drive in subscription revenue. According to news reports in late July, Weiss has met with David Ellison, the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison and soon-to-be owner of CBS News, about a possible acquisition of the publication. David Ellison, who recently pushed through a merger of his Hollywood studio Skydance with CBS’s parent company Paramount, was attracted to Weiss due to her “pro-Israel stance,” according to news reports about the talks.
The FP has had increasing difficulties making its pro-Israel narrative digestible enough for a general audience. A few months after running a story entitled, “The Gaza Famine Myth,” claiming that Israel was facing antisemitic slanders over its program of restricting aid to the territory, the publication has now been forced to pivot in the face of widespread starvation acknowledged even by far-right journalists aligned with the Netanyahu government, while still attempting to deflect responsibility from the Israeli government.
If it goes through, the deal could set Weiss up to help guide the “editorial sensibilities of CBS News,” according to reports on the potential acquisition.
Murtaza Hussain is a journalist for Drop Site News.
Ryan Grim is a reporter for The Intercept, co-host of Counter Points, and journalist for Drop Site News.
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