American fundraisers support the 'AIPAC Europe' group to influence the European Union's policy towards Israel

The site published a report prepared by Akila Lees, in which she said that American fundraisers are collecting money to support a European group described as "AIPAC Europe" in reference to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

She said that the "European Leadership Network" or EILANT arranges relationship trips for elected leaders and takes them to Israel, hosts events for European Parliament members, and influences foreign policy, just as AIPAC does in the United States, and Renan Eliaz is one of the group's founders who previously worked as a former advisor to the (AIPAC) committee, and he is a graduate of the office of the Prime Minister of the Israeli occupation government.

The group attributes to itself the credit for taking key decisions supportive of Israel in foreign policy, including convincing Germany to approve a deal worth 3.5 billion dollars to buy Israeli drones and missiles, the largest in Israel's history, and since the October 7 attacks on Israel, and amid two years of genocide in Gaza, the EILANT network broke fundraising records.

An analysis revealed that more than a hundred American institutions, non-profit organizations, trust funds, and donor entities contributed at least 11 million US dollars to the organization's branch in the United States since 2022, and this is the first major analysis that reveals how American donors support the machine of support for Israel in Europe, transferring the same methods that helped (AIPAC) for years to suppress any concerns about Palestinians in the corridors of power and enhance unconditional support for Israel.

Although EILANT is smaller in size than AIPAC, it operates in a small market and constantly publishes pro-Israel materials targeting European parliamentarians. Although the United States is Israel's largest financial and military supporter, the European Union is its largest trading partner and has political influence on how the world deals with Israel, especially after protests against the genocidal war in Gaza, and from here EILANT sees its work as necessary.

The site quoted Lynn Boylan, a European Parliament member and Irish representative for Sinn Féin party, saying: "The EILANT network clearly confirms that its role is to legitimize and deepen economic relations with Israel, at a time when international law requires us to impose sanctions on Israel and cut off trade relations with it. As a legislator in the European Union, I am deeply concerned about the ability of American groups, apparently, to influence the European Union's policy towards Israel".

The organization "Friends of EILANT", the non-profit American arm of the organization, transfers most of its revenues to EILANT branches around the world. The organization raised more than 9.1 million dollars in 2023, the last year its tax data appears, with an increase over 7 million dollars in 2022, and more than double its revenues in 2018.

The American arm is headed by Larry Hochberg, a donor from Chicago and former director of the AIPAC organization, and he is a member of the board of the non-profit organization "Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces". It is headed by David Siegel, a former Israeli diplomat, former member of AIPAC, former officer in the Israeli army, and the board of directors of EILANT in the United States includes donors who provided more than 170,000 dollars to AIPAC, and its political committee "United Democracy Project". One of its board members, Jerry Rosenberg, is a member of the private Minyan club for major AIPAC donors according to his biography on the EILANT website. European media also reported the existence of a number of EILANT donors who supported President Donald Trump.

Among the prominent American donors to the "Friends of EILANT" organization is the William Davidson Foundation, founded by the businessman of the same name from Michigan, which provided 800,000 US dollars to the organization since 2022, and the Newton and Rochelle Baker Charitable Fund, founded by the couple to work on "ensuring the future of the Jewish people and the state of Israel", which provided approximately half a million US dollars in 2023, and the Ocean State GOB Lot Charitable Foundation, the charitable arm of the cheap retail chain in the northeastern United States, which provided 445,000 US dollars in 2022. Representatives of the institutions did not respond to requests for comment.

Among the other major donors is the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, the family foundation of Joseph Feinberg, a member of the EILANT board in the United States, the National Philanthropic Trust, and the Dian and Guilford Glazer Foundation, each of which provided 675,000 dollars, 560,000 dollars, and 430,000 dollars respectively since 2022. The Jewish Federations in Palm Beach, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, and San Francisco provided 443,000 dollars since 2022.

This money helped the EILANT organization continue its efforts in transferring two drones to the Israeli army, cutting funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, and pushing for a European Union decision affirming Israel's right to self-defense and calling for the elimination of Hamas.

Boylan, head of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Palestine, told the site that she is concerned about the role played by American donors in pressuring European governments to support Israel.

Boylan said: "Although it is not surprising that American donors are pumping millions of dollars to influence the European Union's policy towards Israel, this shows the extent of the detachment of European institutions from the reality of their citizens regarding the genocide in Gaza".

Beit Miller from the organization "Jewish Voice for Peace" said: "With the increasing rejection by American politicians of accepting money from war-inciting groups like AIPAC, it seems that American donors are sending more donations abroad in an attempt to gain support for the Israeli army throughout Europe". She added: "It is shameful that many here in the United States play a major role in the apartheid system and the ongoing genocide against Palestinians".

Many American institutions also directed money to the "Friends of EILANT" organization through recommended donation funds, which allow donors to make tax-exempt donations through an intermediary, with the possibility of hiding their identity. Recommended donation funds are not allowed to contribute to political lobbying efforts, but there are many ways to circumvent this ban, as explained by Bela Devan, deputy director of the Charitable Institutions Reform Initiative at the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive research center. The National Philanthropic Trust, the Jewish Foundation in San Diego, and the Jewish Foundation in Atlanta transferred money to the network through these recommended funds. EILANT did not respond to the site's requests for comment.

Thousands of Europeans demonstrate weekly to pressure their officials to stop the genocide in Gaza, where Boylan said: "Their concerns are ignored in favor of organizations created specifically to defend Israel at any cost". EILANT began after the October 7, 2023 attacks by organizing documentary screenings about the attacks in European parliaments, and launched a campaign that would quickly raise its profile over the following two years. The group arranged meetings between its members and families of Israeli prisoners, organized trips for about 300 policymakers and opinion leaders to Israel, and celebrated what it described as the success of its influence on European policy.

The group wrote in a fundraising appeal in October 2023 to support "emergency solidarity missions" to Israel from European countries, including France, Germany, Britain, and Italy: "Europe's alignment with the United States in supporting Israel is a historic achievement, and reflects the essential work done by the EILANT network" and added: "EILANT's priority is to ensure the continuation of unprecedented European military and diplomatic support for Israel throughout the war and until the elimination of Hamas".

Among its successes is pushing European countries to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism, pushing European countries to suppress pro-Palestine groups, and securing historic arms deals between Israel and Germany. The group includes a wide network of thousands of European and Israeli officials, and has branches around the world, including Britain, Germany, France, and Italy, in addition to offices in Central and Eastern Europe, the European Union, and NATO. In her conversation with the site, the Irish MP Boylan expressed her concern about the efforts of the "EILANT" organization to expand relations between the Israeli arms industry and the Israeli army.

Boylan said: "It is also worrying that an organization conducting 'strategic dialogues' headed by individuals who previously held leadership positions in the Israeli army is allowed to have any role in determining the European Union's policy", referring to the former presidents of the 'EILANT' forum that organizes 'high-level strategic dialogues' between Europe and Israel. She added that she will follow up the matter with the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, regarding the support of American donor entities for 'EILANT' efforts in promoting pro-Israel policies in Europe.

Critics and journalists also raised questions about the amount of money the network received from the Israeli government, which paid for the costs of a lobbying event held last month in the French Parliament, according to a French site. It is worth noting that the leadership of "EILANT" and its board members have ties to the Israeli government, including two former advisors to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.