Posted by Jonas E. Alexis, Senior Editor
\nVT<\/p>\n
In a meeting last Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel pays influencers to spread propaganda. During the meeting, Netanyahu declared: \u201cWe have to fight back. How do we fight back? Our influencers. I think you should also talk to them if you have a chance, to that community, they are very important.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Being paid by Israel to post on social media is also very lucrative for these unhinged shills, with previously unreported documents revealing that influencers are likely raking in around $7,000 per post on platforms like TikTok and Instagram to push Israel\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n Responsiblestatecraft.org<\/a>\u00a0reports: Bridge Partners, a firm working for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sent a series of invoices for its \u201cInfluencer Campaign\u201d to Havas Media Group Germany, an international media group working for Israel. The invoices detailed a sum of $900,000, starting in June and slated to end in November, for a cohort of 14-18 influencers to create content.<\/p>\n The\u00a0document<\/u><\/a>, which was filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, notes that the funding is for both \u201cpayments for influencers and production,\u201d but does not provide a breakdown between the two. When taking into account the administrative production costs through Sept. 16 \u2014 legal fees, banking fees, marketing fees, and other project services noted in a separate document \u2014 that leaves an estimated sum of $552,946 for the influencers between June and September of this year.<\/p>\n The firm estimated that the cohort was expected to produce 75-90 posts in that time. Doing the math, that would be $6,143 per post on the low end. On the high end, each influencer could be making as much as $7,372 per post.<\/p>\n It is not clear which influencers are participating in the program. Havas, the firm overseeing Bridge Partners\u2019 work, did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the project, which influencers are participating in the program, or how much each is paid.<\/p>\n Bridge Partners\u2019 founders are Yair Levi and Uri Steinberg, who each own a 50% stake in the firm. Bridge Partners describes its work as assisting with \u201cpromoting cultural interchange between United States and Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n The firm, which lists its business address in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington D.C., has also\u00a0enlisted<\/u><\/a>\u00a0the help of a former major in the IDF spokesperson unit, Nadav Shtrauchler. For legal counsel, Levi and Steinberg have turned to Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, a firm that previously\u00a0worked for<\/u><\/a>\u00a0controversial Israeli spyware company NSO Group.The Bridge Partners campaign is titled \u201cEsther Project.\u201d It is unclear if the campaign bears any association with \u201cProject Esther,\u201d the Heritage Foundation\u2019s\u00a0campaign<\/a>\u00a0to fight anti-semitism by\u00a0branding<\/a>\u00a0critics of Israel as part of a terrorist support network.<\/p>\n