Secretly recorded tapes reveal lobbyists’ tactics, including anonymous smears and claims of working with Israeli government to spy on American citizens.
21-09-2025 – A bombshell investigative documentary has uncovered a wide-ranging covert operation aimed at influencing U.S. lawmakers, discrediting activists on college campuses, and surveilling American citizens, all in defense of Israel’s political interests.
The investigation, conducted by Al Jazeera, centered on an undercover operative, James Anthony Kleinfeld, who spent five months infiltrating influential pro-Israel groups, including The Israel Project (TIP) and the powerful lobbying firm, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac).
Posing as a enthusiastic recruit—a British Jewish Oxford graduate fluent in six languages—Kleinfeld was welcomed into their inner circles at conferences, training sessions, and cocktail parties. His handlers, believing he was a trusted ally, dropped their guarded public relations rhetoric and revealed their most sensitive strategies.
Key revelations from the secretly recorded footage include:
· Influencing Congress: When asked how to influence U.S. lawmakers, the answer was stark: “Congressmen don’t do anything unless you pressure them, and the only way to do that is with money.”
· Targeting Student Activists: To counter pro-Palestinian groups on university campuses, operatives described a strategy of opposition research followed by the creation of anonymous websites and targeted Facebook ads to smear activists.
· Surveillance of U.S. Citizens: In the most alarming revelation, contacts told Kleinfeld they were conducting surveillance operations on American citizens with the assistance of Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs, which reports directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One official explicitly acknowledged the legal peril, stating, “We are a different government working on foreign soil, [so] we have to be very, very cautious.” Such actions could potentially violate U.S. law.
The investigation portrays a network that moves far beyond standard lobbying into the shadows of espionage and psychological operations. Kleinfeld’s performance was so convincing that his direct supervisor at TIP, Eric Gallagher, was reportedly highly pleased with his work, completely unaware he was being filmed.
This documentary promises to ignite serious debates about foreign influence in American politics, the limits of lobbying, and the protection of citizens’ rights to free speech and assembly.