Maccabee Task Force
The Maccabee Task Force is a conservative Zionist organization operating with the aims of countering Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movements on college campuses and promoting pro-Israel beliefs amongst young people.[1] It was founded in part by conservative billionaires Sheldon Adelson and Miriam Adelson, who remains the groups president and chief benefactor.[2]
History
[edit]MTF was founded in 2015 with the Campus Maccabees Summit organized by Sheldon Adelson and Haim Saban. The summit was attended by representatives from 50 Jewish organizations and focused on confronting the BDS movement. Liberal Zionist organizations critical of BDS sanctions, such as Ameinu, where noted as not having been invited to attend the summit..[3]
Initial organizers and funders such as Sheldon Adelson, Haim Saban, and Adam Milstein planned three components of the Campus Maccabees: donors for funding, on-campus activists to advocate on college campuses, and researchers to investigate Pro-Palestinian groups and identify opportunities for legal challenges. The focus would be on key groups in the BDS movement, such as Students for Justice in Palestine and Muslim Student Association.[3]
Programming varied across campuses, but generally involved trips to Israel for mostly non-Jewish student leaders, activities to promote their objectives as well as coalition building with other organizations. Over the course of the academic year, a chapter would hold roughly 20 events.[4]
For the 2015-2016 academic year, the organization concentrated its efforts on six California campuses, expanding to 20 in 2016-2017, 40 in 2017-2018, and 80 campuses, including five Canadian colleges, by 2018-2019.[4][5] Brog announced at the end of the 2018–2019 school year that MTF would expand to over 100 schools.[6] In 2019, MTF announced that it would expand internationally in 2020, though it did not specify to which countries.[7] By the 2020 school year, MTF was planning to expand to approximately 100 college campuses in the United States.[8] It is active on around 100 campuses in the United States and Canada.[3][7]
Management
[edit]Miriam Adelson is the MTF's president per their 990, but this is not lost listed on the organization's website.[9][10] In 2024, Adelson's net worth was estimated at $32 billion, making her the richest Israeli and the 53rd-richest person in the world.[11][12][13] She is the wife of the late Sheldon Adelson, a noted republican mega donor who had donate $200 million to Trump and the GOP for the 2020 election cycle.[14] Following Sheldon's death in 2021, She became the third largest donor to Donald Trump's 2024 election bid, giving 106 million dollars in exchange for a commitment from Donald Trump to recognize Israeli annexation of the West Bank.[15][16] Trump awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018.
David Brog, the then founding director of Christians United for Israel, was chosen as the MTF's first executive director following the Campus Maccabees Summit in 2015.[17][18] Christians United for Israel is a Christian Zionist organization that was started by John Hagee.
Brog is often considered a protégé of American philanthropists Miriam and Sheldon Adelson,[19][20] but people expressed surprise at his selection because his "background indicates a political position far from the mainstream of pro-Israel activism."[21] He attended Harvard Law School, and practiced corporate law in the US and in Israel prior to his involvement in Christians United for Israel.[22] He is Jewish.[22]
Funding of Hillels
[edit]During MTF's first two years of operation, the organization made donations to averaging more than $100,000 to more than 40 Hillel chapters the US and Canada. As a condition of receiving donations from the MTF, money from the organization cannot be used to fund activities associated with J Street U, a Liberal Zionist organization politically to the left of the MTF.[1] [23]
Funding of travel to Israel for students and celebrities
[edit]The Maccabee foundation has partnered with media production companies, like Rova Media and Eight Productions, to fund trips to Israel for celebrities with the ends of creating pro-Israel promotional materials.[24] These trips had begun occurring before the October 7 attacks, before which they "brought influencers here on visits to show the appropriate target audience there are things to do here, and that it’s fun" according to MTF's media department co-director Uriel Dison.[24] Since the conflict began, Dison says the goals have changed, and that they wish to turn participating influencers into something akin to "wartime ambassadors."[24]
Ivanka Trump, Montana Tucker, James Maslow, Nathaniel Buzolic, Debra Messing, Michael Rapaport, Scooter Braun, Eve Harlow, Kosher Dillz, and Lee Kerns are noted as having participated in these trips for influential people[24]
Since at least 2018, MTF has been organizing trips to send primarily non-Jewish undergraduate student leaders to Israel.[1] These trips are usually run out of campus Hillels, tend to be vaguely named, and usually obscure their connection to the MTF while marketing these trips as being "progressive" in nature.[1] Students report that these trips have been heavily pushed to leaders of orgs aimed at students of color, such black student unions.[1]
The goals of MTF's trips has been suggested to be repairing the relationship between progressive students and campus Hillels and building a network of student government members who would vote against BDS measures on campus.[1]
The MTF claimed that during the 2018–2019 school year the organization facilitated 74 Israel trips.[1] Schools mentioned as having hosted such trips include the University of Minnesota, the University of Vermont, New York University, and Northwestern University.[1] These trips have continued until at least 2024.[8]
Commentary on Mahmoud Khalil and Columbia University
[edit]Following the Detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University who had helped to organize protests against the University's Zionist politics, but was not wanted for a crime, the MTF claimed that Khalil was a “Hamas supporter,” who had "came to the US to promote chaos and destruction.”[2] and claimed that deporting him would be a "step in the right direction" in a now deleted Facebook post.[2]
On March 6th, 2025, two days Prior to Khalil's apprehension, the MTF had posted “FAFO”, an acronym for 'fuck around and find out' to their Facebook page with an attached statement reading, “The sad truth is that the admin at Columbia couldn’t even be bothered to pretend to care about the safety of Jewish students until the Whitehouse [sic] threatened the prospect of losing $5B ... And even then, they still might think it’s better to appease the pro-terror mob. Not on our dime.”[2]
Online media operations
[edit]MTF was a major funder of Act.IL, a defunct social networking service used by supporters of Israel to oppose online "anti-Israel content" such as the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS). Its activities were referred to as "an online propaganda campaign"[25] and "a virtual situation room of pro-Israel experts".[26]
Act.IL directed its users to "missions" to like, comment on, and share pro-Israel material on social media. It also asked users to flag, report, and respond to criticisms of Israel. Users were guided on how to respond, which might entail writing a reply using the provided talking points, or sharing or upvoting an allied comment. The app also provided users with ready-made memes promoting Israel's perspective for them to share. By completing missions users earned points, unlocked badges, and had their scores displayed on leaderboards.[27] The Forward referred to it as a pro-Israel human "botnet".[25]
MTF is one of the largest donors to PragerU, a conservative visual media site that was co-founded in 2009 by screenwriter Allen Estrin and talk show host Dennis Prager. PragerU's videos habitually contain misleading or factually incorrect information promoting creationism and climate change denial.[28] Historians and political scientists have also criticized PragerU's videos for containing misleading or inaccurate claims about topics such as slavery and racism in the United States, immigration, and the history of fascism. PragerU has been accused of promoting fascism, racism, sexism and anti-LGBT politics.[29] Despite the name including the word "university", it is not an academic institution and does not confer degrees.
PragerU has promoted at least five videos featuring the MTF.[30] Brog, the organization's executive director, is a presenter on two videos listed on PragerU Website as of May 2025.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h "Maccabee Games". Jewish Currents. Retrieved 2025-05-05.
- ^ a b c d "The Israeli-American Trump mega-donor behind speech crackdowns | Responsible Statecraft". responsiblestatecraft.org. Retrieved 2025-05-05.
- ^ a b c Guttman, Nathan (June 11, 2015). "Secret Sheldon Adelson Summit Raises up to $50M for Strident Anti-BDS Push". The Forward. Archived from the original on June 11, 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ a b Bandler, Aaron (2018-12-12). "Maccabee Task Force: The Pro-Israel Group That Is Quietly Defeating BDS on Campus". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ Kamaras, Jacob; Savage, Sean (June 6, 2017). "In the campus arena, Maccabee Task Force wages the battle without the 'credit'". Jewish News Syndicate. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ Schwalb, Jess (December 24, 2019). "Maccabee Games". Jewish Currents. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ^ a b Cortellessa, Eric (October 7, 2019). "Anti-BDS group backed by Sheldon Adelson heads to 6 countries outside US". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
- ^ a b Prince, Cathryn (2024-01-25). "Allies of Jewish US students visit Israel after Oct. 7 – and come back armed with info". Times of Israel. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ "The Israeli-American Trump mega-donor behind speech crackdowns | Responsible Statecraft". responsiblestatecraft.org. Retrieved 2025-04-07.
- ^ "About MTF". Maccabee Task Force. Retrieved 2025-04-08.
- ^ "Miriam Adelson & family". Forbes. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ "Record-breaking number of Israelis featured on Forbes' 2024 billionaire's list". The Jerusalem Post. April 3, 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ Grosser, Annika (May 23, 2024). "The Richest Billionaire In Every State 2024". Forbes. Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ Stone, Peter (2020-02-10). "Sheldon Adelson to donate $100m to Trump and Republicans, fundraisers say". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ "Top Contributors, federal election data for Donald Trump, 2024 cycle". OpenSecrets. Retrieved 2025-04-08.
- ^ Slyomovics, Nettanel (2024-06-03). "Trump Is Desperate for Miriam Adelson's Cash. Her Condition: West Bank Annexation". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ^ "CUFI's David Brog to lead new anti-BDS campus group". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 10, 2015. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ Guttman, Nathan (July 8, 2015). "Leader of Christian Zionists Named Head of Campus Anti-BDS Group". The Forward. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ Lapin, Andrew (June 15, 2022). "Head of campus pro-Israel group loses Republican Congressional primary in Nevada". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
- ^ Kampeas, Ron (19 February 2022). "Adelson protégé, head of pro-Israel group David Brog, running for Congress in Nevada". Times of Israel.
- ^ "Leader of Christian Zionists Named Head of Campus Anti-BDS Group". The Forward. 2015-07-08. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ a b Forward, Jacob Kornbluh (2022-05-09). "David Brog, Jewish former head of CUFI, running for Congress". J. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ page, David Horovitz You will receive email alerts from this author Manage alert preferences on your profile page You will no longer receive email alerts from this author Manage alert preferences on your profile. "How Sheldon Adelson just might be turning the tide against BDS on US campuses". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2025-05-05.
{{cite web}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ a b c d ""Everybody cries"". Globes. 2024-01-15. Retrieved 2025-05-05.
- ^ a b "Shadowy Israeli App Turns American Jews Into Foot Soldiers In Online War". The Forward. 2017-11-30. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ "Combating BDS with a push of the button". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2017-06-04. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ "Call of Duty". Jewish Currents. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ McCarthy, Joseph (December 18, 2018). "A Course in Climate Misinformation: How Prager U. Is Propagating Climate Misinformation". The Weather Channel. Archived from the original on December 27, 2018.
- ^ Anderson, Drew (August 6, 2019). "BACKGROUNDER: PragerU's Ties to White Supremacy, Horrific Anti-LGBTQ Record". GLAAD. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
- ^ Goforth, Claire (25 November 2019). "Money Behind PragerU: Old, Rich, and Ultra-Conservative". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.