Grant Smith

Benjamin Netanyahu’s prosecution for corruption in an Israeli courtroom is now underway. The current Israeli Prime Minister is facing three counts of fraud and breach of trust and one count of bribery. The first count listed in the charge sheet details Israeli movie producer Arnon Milchan’s long relationship with Netanyahu. Netanyahu received approximately $140,000 worth … Continue reading “Why Wasn’t Netanyahu Ever Indicted in the US?”

Public opinion polls soliciting the views of American voting age adults on timely policy matters impacting Israel and its US lobby are scarce. Americans are only rarely asked about whether they approve of the U.S. having given the lion’s share of the foreign aid budget to Israel over the last seven decades. Perhaps that is … Continue reading “Poll: Americans Reject Israeli Annexation”

On April 22, 2020 Judge Rudolph Contreras ordered the IRS to provide details about the adequacy of its search for documents about policy on US nonprofit charitable funding flows into Israeli settlements. The order was only the latest round in a legal battle launched by the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep), which in … Continue reading “IRS Must Describe Its Search for Israeli Settlement Policies”

Since 9/11 Israel and its lobby have been hard at work narrowing U.S. policy options toward Iran down to military confrontation. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is also in the narrowing business. After initially complying with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and releasing information about Israel’s extensive nuclear weapons … Continue reading “Five Things You Can’t Know About Israel and Its Lobby”

The manufacture and sale of "transparent armor" to the Department of Defense to protect personnel operating military vehicles has long been a mature industry in the United States. When the Department of Defense issued a series of U.S. Army contracts for windows to be installed in "mine-resistant ambush-protected" all-terrain vehicles known as "MRAPs" in 2014, … Continue reading “Fraud at Israeli Military Contractor Oran Safety Glass”

It is always worthwhile to monitor – before it’s too late – policy recommendations emerging from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC ecosystem. Since 1984 that ecosystem includes AIPAC’s associated think tank, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Two WINEP thought leaders are currently advancing a serious proposal for the US to help … Continue reading “US Should Support Israeli Land Grabs Say AIPAC Think-Tankers”

Seventy members of the U.S. Congress (16% of the total membership) are visiting Israel during recess. Most of the private funding for the junket arrives through an entity called the American Israel Education Foundation. AIEF officially formed as a "supporting organization of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee" (AIPAC) in 1988 and applied for tax … Continue reading “Americans Oppose Israel Lobby Junkets”

Mainstream news coverage of foreign government influence on U.S. elections has been extensive since allegations first surfaced about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race. According to a new poll, a solid 60.0% majority of Americans now believe Russia is the single top meddler in US elections, followed by China (16.4%) and the United Kingdom … Continue reading “Only 5.7% of Americans Say Israel Is the Top Meddler in US Elections”

An analysis of 640 pages of FBI investigatory records obtained by IRmep under the Freedom of Information Act reveals how the FBI Director limited Senator John D. Rockefeller’s urgent 2003 written demand for accountability over faulty Iraq war intelligence into a narrow overseas investigation. The released files, originally scheduled for declassification on December 31, 2028 … Continue reading “Lesson From FBI’s ‘Niger Uranium Forgeries’ File”

Pollster Gallup admitted on March 28 that three decades of polling data contain fundamental flaws "well beyond what we would attribute to normal sampling error." Gallup’s admission centers on its high-stakes question of whether Americans have greater sympathy for Israelis or for Palestinians. Gallup loudly trumpeted that Americans "increasingly sympathized with Israel in recent years." … Continue reading “Gallup Quietly Admits ‘Israeli vs. Palestinian’ Sympathy Polls Are Misleading”