Meet the U.S. Donors Funding ELNET, the AIPAC of Europe

U S donors are funneling millions to a group its leaders describe as the AIPAC of Europe The European Leadership Framework or ELNET takes elected administrators on networking trips to Israel hosts events with members of European parliaments and lobbies on foreign approach issues much like the American Israel Inhabitants Affairs Committee operates in the U S Its co-founder Raanan Eliaz is a former AIPAC consultant and alumnus of the Israeli prime minister s office The group credits itself for key pro-Israel foreign approach decisions including getting Germany to approve a billion deal to purchase Israeli drones and rockets the largest in Israel s history Since the October attacks in Israel and amid two years of genocide in Gaza ELNET has broken fundraising records Funding ELNET s work are more than U S foundations nonprofits trusts and charitable giving organizations that have poured at least million into the group s U S arm since an analysis by The Intercept exposed This is the first major analysis of how U S donors are fueling the pro-Israel machine in Europe exporting the same tactics that have for years helped AIPAC crush concern for Palestinians in the halls of power and advance unchecked assistance for Israel ELNET is smaller than AIPAC but it operates in a smaller field feeding a steady stream of pro-Israel material to European parliamentarians While the U S gives more financial and military sponsorship to Israel than any country in the world the European Union is Israel s biggest trading partner and holds critical sway over whether global political consensus stays on Israel s side Amid inhabitants outcry and cracks in European endorsement over Israel s genocide in Gaza ELNET sees its work as more essential than ever I am very concerned that U S groups are seemingly successfully able to determine EU protocol on Israel ELNET states clearly that their role is to legitimize and deepen economic ties with Israel at a time when international law tells us we should be sanctioning Israel and sever commerce ties revealed European Parliament member Lynn Boylan an Irish representative from the Sinn F in party As an EU lawmaker I am very concerned that U S groups are seemingly successfully able to determine EU agenda on Israel Friends of ELNET the group s U S nonprofit arm transfers almost all of its revenue to ELNET s chapters around the globe It raised more than million in the last year for which its tax forms are publicly available up from million in and more than double its revenue from The U S arm is chaired by Larry Hochberg a Chicago philanthropist and former AIPAC national director who sits on the board of the nonprofit group Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Its president is David Siegel previously an Israeli diplomat an AIPAC legislative writer and an IDF officer ELNET s U S board members include donors who have given more than to AIPAC its super PAC United Democracy Project and the related pro-Israel group DMFI PAC since One of those board members Jerry Rosenberg is a member of AIPAC s specific major-donor Minyan Club according to his ELNET bio European media have also broadcasted on a handful of ELNET donors who have also supported President Donald Trump Chart The Intercept Information via organizations tax filings Top U S donors to Friends of ELNET include the William Davidson Foundation founded by the late Michigan businessman which has given to the group since the Newton and Rochelle Becker Charitable Trust founded by the couple to work toward ensuring the future of the Jewish people and the State of Israel which gave just under half a million dollars in and the Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation the philanthropic arm of the northeastern chain of discount retail stores which gave in Representatives for the foundations did not respond to requests for comment Other major donors include the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation the family foundation for ELNET U S board member Joseph Feinberg the National Philanthropic Trust and the Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation each of which have given and respectively since Jewish Federations in Palm Beach Miami Chicago Atlanta and San Francisco have given altogether since Those dollars have powered ELNET in its advocacy to transfer two drones to the IDF cut off funding to the U N Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and push a EU resolution affirming Israel s right to self-defense and calling for the eradication of Hamas Boylan who chairs the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Palestine described The Intercept that she was alarmed by the role U S donors are playing in lobbying European governments to back Israel While it is not surprising that U S donors are funneling millions to influence EU guidelines on Israel this demonstrates just how much European institutions are out of touch with their own citizens on the genocide in Gaza Boylan announced U S donors appear to be sending more donations abroad in an attempt to curry aid for the Israeli military across Europe As more U S politicians refuse to accept money from warmongering groups like AIPAC U S donors appear to be increasingly sending more donations abroad in an attempt to curry advocacy for the Israeli military across Europe disclosed Beth Miller political director for Jewish Voice for Peace Action It s shameful that so a multitude of here in the U S play a key role in the ongoing apartheid and genocide against Palestinians Numerous of the U S institutions directed funds to Friends of ELNET through donor-advised funds or DAFs which let donors make tax-exempt contributions through an intermediary and give them the choice to remain anonymous DAFs aren t allowed to contribute to lobbying efforts but there are countless solutions around that prohibition declared Bella DeVaan associate director of the charity revision initiative at the progressive think tank Institute for Agenda Studies It s a way to rinse your name off of any kind of donation that could be perceived as controversial or something that you just want to keep anonymous publicly DeVaan noted DAFs also confer important benefits for donors looking to reduce their tax burden The National Philanthropic Trust the Jewish Public Foundation of San Diego and the Jewish Federation of Atlanta all directed money to ELNET through DAFs That s not uncommon A July record from the Institute for Procedures Studies located that donors disproportionately use DAFs more than other funding sources for political giving When you involve the sort of shell-game ceiling of DAFs it can become really complex to trace direct impact DeVaan noted That can really manifest in a lot of political consequences that I think the average taxpayer would not like to know that they re subsidizing because of the tax breaks that charitable givers get for their gifts Do we want to give people a tax break to amplify their influence around the world DeVaan stated it was concerning that donors are using DAFs to patronage international lobbying efforts Critics of Israel s genocide in Gaza have called on institutions to clarify ethical guidelines around DAF distributions amid concerns about funding groups linked to the Israeli military Pro-Israel advocates have also criticized DAF distributions to Palestine solidarity groups No matter what kind of lobbying it is at home or abroad these implications are really concerning For every gift an ultra-rich person gives to charity the average taxpayer is chipping in an estimated cents on the dollar commented DeVaan Do we want to give people a tax break to amplify their influence around the world I don t think preponderance people would agree with that Related How Does AIPAC Shape Washington We Tracked Every Dollar Numerous of the same groups funneling money to ELNET s U S nonprofit arm have also given to other pro-Israel organizations Six foundations that have given more than to Friends of ELNET since have given to AIPAC over the same period Donors to Friends of ELNET have also given more than million to AIPAC s educational arm the American Israel Tuition Foundation which sponsors trips to Israel for members of Congress Michael Leffell an venture firm founder and AIPAC donor whose foundation gave to Friends of ELNET in has given million to United Democracy Project since More than ELNET donors have given million to the Central Fund of Israel and million to the Jewish National Fund since both of which fund Israeli settler groups in the West Bank where settlers have ramped up attacks on Palestinians since the October attacks Friends of ELNET did not respond to a request for comment Thousands of Europeans protest each week to pressure their personnel to stop the genocide in Gaza Their concerns are ignored in favour of organisations specifically established to defend Israel at all costs commented Boylan Aligning With the U S in Sponsorship of Israel After October ELNET set to work arranging screenings of the attacks in European parliaments and embarking on a campaign that would rapidly elevate the group s profile in the next two years The group has arranged meetings between members and families of Israeli hostages taken certain policymakers and opinion leaders on trips to Israel and celebrated what it describes as its effective influence on European strategy Europe aligning with the U S in endorsement of Israel is a monumental achievement and a reflection of ELNET s critical work the group wrote in an October fundraising appeal to aid urgency solidarity missions to Israel from European countries including France Germany the U K and Italy ELNET s priority is to ensure that the unprecedented European military and diplomatic aid for Israel remains strong for the duration of the war until Hamas is eradicated ELNET s priority is to ensure that the unprecedented European military and diplomatic assistance for Israel remains strong for the duration of the war until Hamas is eradicated Among its accomplishments since October ELNET has pointed to its work to get European countries to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism which defines criticisms of Israel as antisemitic push European states to crack down on pro-Palestine protesters and ban certain protests and secure the historic defense deal between Israel and Germany In its latest annual overview from ELNET highlighted its work to pass the defense deal for Germany to purchase the Arrow missile defense system developed by Israel and the U S ELNET arranged for German political leaders and officers to meet with Israeli authorities and thus advance the requisite research and dialogue to consummate this historic deal the group wrote Eleven days after the October attacks ELNET brought a group of survivors to speak to members of the European Parliament a lawmaking body for the EU The next day the European Parliament passed a resolution that called for a humanitarian pause in Gaza and for Hamas to be eliminated Each ELNET office served as a conduit of factual and credible information to parliamentarians and policymakers across Europe by providing firsthand information about what happened on October the assessment read The day after ELNET brought Israeli survivors to speak at the European Parliament an unprecedented resolution was passed backing Israel s right to self-defense and calling for the elimination of Hamas The group boasts a configuration of thousands of European and Israeli personnel in its orbit and has chapters around the world including the U K Germany France Italy and offices for Central and Eastern Europe and the EU NATO Friends of ELNET sends millions to ELNET s global chapters each year climbing from million in to more than million in Varying financial reporting requirements across Europe make it complex to account perfectly for ELNET s global financial portfolio Friends of ELNET conducts much of the fundraising for the group s global chapters but it s not clear how much funding those chapters raise on their own ELNET Germany in recent months publicized it was launching its own Friends of ELNET Germany chapter A filing with the transparency body for the EU lists Friends of ELNET as the only source of funding for ELNET s chapter registered in Brussels ELNET s chapters for the EU NATO and Germany did not respond to requests for comment Speaking to The Intercept Boylan raised concerns about ELNET s work to expand Israel s arms industry ties to the Israeli military It is also concerning that an organization who holds strategic dialogues chaired by individuals formerly in IDF leadership positions are allowed to have any role in determining EU program Boylan commented referring to former chairs of an ELNET forum that organizes high-level strategic dialogues between Europe and Israel She mentioned she would follow up with the European Commission the executive branch of the European Parliament about U S donors backing ELNET s work pushing pro-Israel policies in Europe Related EU Leader Calls to Sanction Israel as U S Progressives Push to End Arms Sales Critics and journalists have also raised questions about how much money ELNET has received from the Israeli cabinet which reimbursed ELNET for a lobbying event last month at the French Parliament the French outlet Mediapart communicated Elnet s leadership and board members also have ties to the Israeli authorities and include two former advisers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Before Friends of ELNET launched in ELNET received funding from the pro-Israel advocacy group StandWithUs which has long been current in policing criticism of Israel on college campuses StandWithUs transferred just under million in assets to Friends of ELNET to launch the nonprofit in While ELNET leaders have pointed to AIPAC as a model Eliaz Elnet s co-founder envisioned something with a much lower profile that didn t carry strings attached to well-known U S donors Since he left the group in ELNET s U S encouragement has almost doubled ELNET s strategy goals from its last annual overview include continuing to expand the IHRA definition of antisemitism working to counter Israel s delegitimization at the UN opposing the International Criminal Court research of Israel and continuing its campaign against UNRWA which Israel shut down in January Judeo-Christian Civilization ELNET s communications signal that it s looking for procedures to exploit a growing rift between the U S and Europe under Trump to Israel s advantage including seizing on the wave of anti-immigrant political parties in Europe In a February newsletter a truncated version of which was posted to the Times of Israel as a blog ELNET-Israel CEO Emmanuel Navon previously a senior fellow at a right-wing Israeli think tank wrote that a widening gap between the U S and Europe on Israel made ELNET s job harder But it wasn t all bad news The tension also afforded a new diplomatic opportunity for Israel in Europe amid the rise of European parties with Trumpian sympathies and pro-Israel credentials Navon stepped down as ELNET-Israel CEO in March but he still works closely with the group and supports Elnet s work in France He did not respond to a request for comment In his newsletter Navon referenced a February speech by Vice President JD Vance to the Munich Safeguard Conference in which the latter lambasted European leaders on issues from free speech to migration As a non-partisan and apolitical NGO ELNET cannot and must not take a population stance on cabinet policies But it should be aware of the current Zeitgeist and of its feasible for Israel s relations with Europe Navon wrote including expanding markets for Israel s defense industry Then he quoted Vance who had questioned What is the positive vision that animates this shared safety compact that we all believe is so vital This is a question to which Israel has a clear answer Navon wrote The core values of the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian civilization of which Israel is a pillar It turns out that more and more European voters agree with that answer The production of this research was supported by a grant from the Investigative Journalism for Europe IJ EU fund The post Meet the U S Donors Funding ELNET the AIPAC of Europe appeared first on The Intercept