A new report has revealed that the pro-Israel lobby in the European Union is mainly funded by right-wing, Islamophobic groups in the US.
The report, launched in London today by Spinwatch and the EuroPal Forum, says that many such groups have been founded in recent years as a direct response to the anti-Israel BDS movement.
It says a network of right-wing American groups, Christian Zionists and post-Soviet oligarchs are providing most of the funding for pro-Israel groups in the European Union.
Brussels-based organisations like the Friends of Israel Initiative, the European Foundation for Democracy and the European Leadership Network have strong connections to right-wing, Islamophobic elements in the United States and have partnerships with extremist Israeli settlers.
These organisations will defend Israel as it launches wars on the Palestinians and will seek to paint the Palestinians as inveterate terrorists.
Key backers of the Israel lobby in Brussels include:
• Irving Moskowitz, a California-based bingo multimillionaire who openly finances the Judaisation of east Jerusalem and West Bank settlements
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• Sheldon Adelson, an American casino billionaire who uses his Israeli media empire to support long-time friend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
• Nina Rosenburg, heiress to the Sears Roebuck fortune who was dubbed by journalist Max Blumenthal as “the sugar mama of anti-Muslim hate”
• Daniel Pipes, labeled by the Center for American Progress as part of a network of “misinformation experts” that “peddle hate and fear of Muslims and Islam”
• Paul E. Singer, right-wing American billionaire who is the third largest donor to the 2016 Republican presidential campaign
One of the report authors, Professor David Miller from the University of Bath, said: “A lot of the money for the pro-Israeli Brussels groups comes from America and not just from the Republican or Democratic parties but from the hard right end of the spectrum – the people who fund Islamophobic groups and settlers in the West Bank.”
And Zaher Birawi, of the EuoPal Forum, added: “The Israelis realise that public opinion on the Israeli Palestine issue is going against them and they consider this very dangerous. So they want to maintain a warm, close relationship with the Europeans so that they can remain an occupying state.”
Compared to the pro-Israel lobby in the EU the pro-Palestine lobby is impoverished. They may be winning the argument at street level but they’ve yet to exert the influence over the power-brokers that the Zionist lobby has.
