A series of battles within the White House and State Department seem to have been won by the pro-Israel faction, as reported in articles by Ha’aretz & the Washington Free Beacon…
Pundits and politicians billed the special election race between two strong supporters of Israel, Jon Ossoff (D) and Karen Handel (R), as a major referendum on the first few months of the Trump administration. Tens of millions of Democratic dollars could not buy back Georgia’s 6th District in the most expensive US House race in history. Democrats have now lost all four special elections to fill vacancies left by Trump cabinet appointees.
The Taylor Force Act, a bill to limit aid to the Palestinian Authority, is being peddled on both sides of the aisle by a nationwide grassroots network of pro-Israel activists—including Sheldon Adelson, Shawn Evenhaim, Haim Saban and Adam Milstein—as well as several powerful pro-Israel lobbying groups.
![Making A Sexy Pitch For Israel [video]](https://israelpalestinenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/6-13-17-D-728x410.jpg "Making A Sexy Pitch For Israel [video]")
A new anti-BDS campaign called 4il.org enlists Israel’s supporters as Internet foot soldiers. The two-pronged campaign is geared toward digitally savvy millennials, and uses an interactive website and a smartphone app to turn Israel advocacy into a competitive game.
IAK INVESTIGATION: For two decades, some Israeli officials and partisans have worked to embed a new, Israel-focused definition of antisemitism in institutions around the world, from international bodies and national governments to small college campuses in heartland America. This effort is now snowballing rapidly. As a result, advocacy for Palestinian rights is well on the way to being curtailed and even criminalized as “hate.”
The governor of Texas just signed a law that forbids state agencies from contracting with companies participating in boycotts of Israel. Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina already passed similar laws.
Consortium News: As Official Washington fumes about Russia-gate, Israel’s far more significant political-influence-and-propaganda campaigns are ignored… The October Surprise… In some European circles, the neocons are described as “Israel’s American agents”…
Pro-Israel neocons from the Weekly Standard; Project for the New American Century (PNAC); its replacement, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; and the Jewish Institute for Strategic Affairs (JINSA) – who pushed for war against Iraq and cheered Trump’s attacks on Syria – continue to promote attacks on Iran…
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will begin confirmation hearings on Thursday for Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Israel. (Rand Paul could be the swing vote). Friedman, who helps finance Israeli settlements, is opposed by a diverse array of groups; some pro-Israel groups say he would be bad for Israel. Some of his Senate supporters received donations from Sheldon Adelson…
Palestinian and Jewish activists have filed a lawsuit with a US court against Benjamin Netanyahu, Avigdor Lieberman, Ehud Barak, the Kushner Family Foundation, and Ambassador David Friedman…