A leaked 2018 ministry memo proposed a U.S. nonprofit with Israeli money, a “control mechanism,” and oral coordination — but no foreign-agent disclosure.
A leaked Israeli government memo laid out the blueprint to keep money, oversight, and strategic direction flowing from Israel into a U.S. influence campaign, while keeping the foreign-agent label off the American organizations doing the work.
The July 2018 memo came from Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs and concerned Kela Shlomo, a state-linked venture formed to fight what the ministry called Israel’s “delegitimization.”
The memo said legal advice had found Kela Shlomo was a “government-controlled entity.” U.S. groups taking its money and instructions could therefore face registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA.
The solution was a new American nonprofit. It would receive Israeli funding and a broad “general directive for action,” then select individual projects without the government’s “formal involvement.” The memo stated the design would spare the U.S. entities from registering as agents of Israel.
“This is a control mechanism intended to ensure that, despite broad discretion, the American entity will operate in coordination with the activities of the steering committee in Israel.”— Liat Glazer, Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs legal memo
The ministry did not propose surrendering control. The memo called for a leader who also sat on the Israeli venture’s steering committee. It also preserved performance-based funding, after-the-fact reports, short-term grants, and “informal coordination mechanisms,” including meetings and oral updates.
The Guardian and the Jerusalem Post reported the same leaked memo in 2024. The Guardian reported the initiative later operated as Concert and then Voices of Israel.
FARA exists to expose foreign influence directed at American policy or public opinion. The Justice Department says covered agents must register and disclose their work. This memo shows Israeli officials searching for a structure designed to avoid that transparency while retaining the levers that mattered.