The above video is footage from an undercover Al Jazeera investigation that was blocked from release in the United States and then subsequently leaked online.
THE DUOPOLY OF US/ISRAELI CITIZENSHIP
Today, I want to highlight the ever-present conflicts of interest posed by dual citizenship, particularly when it comes to U.S. officials and our nation's contentious relationship with Israel. With the recently passed Antisemitism Awareness Act threatening to extinguish our First Amendment rights like a bucket of water on a campfire, it's high time we confront this thorny issue head-on. So, grab a seat and hold on tight because we're about to jump into the heart of this constitutional conflagration.
While U.S. law does not prohibit dual citizenship, it's important to recognize the complications it can create within our U.S. elected representatives.
Yes, a strong U.S.-Israel alliance is not inherently an issue, but the extraordinarily extensive ties between these two countries raise serious questions about dual citizens in our government. How can we be sure that Israeli-American officials are acting solely in the interests of the United States and not being influenced by their loyalty to another country?
We can’t.
HOLDING THE LINE
As a former city council member and mayor in my small, Northern California town, I was subjected to more explicit rules and norms around loyalty, conflicts of interest, and serving the whole community than are specified in the Constitution for U.S. legislators.
California election laws are stringent in ensuring that candidates for local office truly represent the interests of their constituents. For example, a person running for city council must be a resident of the specific electoral district they seek to represent. They cannot be from a neighboring city or district, as this would be seen as a clear conflict of interest. The reasoning behind this is simple:
Elected officials should be fully invested in the well-being of the community they serve without divided loyalties or competing priorities.
This principle of undivided loyalty should logically extend to higher offices as well, including those at the national level. If we recognize the inherent conflict of interest in allowing someone to run for city council in a district they don't reside in, how can we turn a blind eye to the divided loyalties of dual citizens serving in Congress or other key government positions? Just as a city council member from a neighboring town might prioritize the interests of their home community over those they were elected to serve, a dual citizen in the federal government may be influenced by their allegiance to a foreign country, potentially compromising their ability to act solely in the best interests of the United States.
So, if little ol’ me had to abide by such principles on my tiny city council, why not our US legislators? How is THIS even legal?”
A CONFLICTED RELATIONSHIP: US & ISRAEL
The U.S.-Israel relationship is a prime example of where these conflicts can arise. The United States provides a staggering amount of aid to Israel each year - over $3.8 billion in 2019 alone, mostly for military assistance. Since World War II, Israel has received over $318 billion in total U.S. aid, far more than any other country.
Do you think this would happen without the help of US/Israel dual citizenship?
On top of that, the U.S. and Israel have an extremely close military and intelligence partnership, with Israeli technology helping to “protect U.S. infrastructure and troops” while, in actuality, providing a surveillance system on the U.S. government, Americans, and their actions.
7 out of 100 Senators who have NOT taken any money from AIPAC. This should tell us everything we need to know….
Tommy Tuberville- Alabama
Alex Padilla & Laphonza Butler- California
Maxie Hirono- Hawaii
Rand Paul- Kentucky
Bernie Sanders- Vermont
Cynthia Lumis- West Virginia
THE TIE THAT BINDS AND CHOKEHOLDS
The close ties between U.S. law enforcement and Israel extend beyond the realm of ideology and into direct training and cooperation.
For over two decades, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been training U.S. police departments, sharing tactics and strategies that have been honed in the context of Israel's military occupation of Palestinian territories. This training often includes techniques for crowd control, surveillance, and the use of force, which human rights organizations have criticized as being excessively brutal and violating civil liberties.
The IDF's influence on U.S. policing has been cited as a factor in the militarization of American police forces and the aggressive tactics employed against protesters, particularly those critical of Israel's policies. In the context of the recent crackdown on pro-Palestinian university student demonstrations, the IDF's training of U.S. police adds another layer of complexity and raises questions about the appropriateness of using military tactics on American civilians exercising their First Amendment rights.
EYE ON THE APPLE PIE: MOSSAD’S U.S. SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM
With an annual budget of about $3bn and 7,000 staff, Mossad is the second-largest espionage agency in the Western world after the CIA.
Not only is Mossad spying on Americans, but in 2019, it was accused of spying on the White House:
The U.S. government concluded within the past two years that Israel was most likely behind the placement of cellphone surveillance devices that were found near the White House and other sensitive locations around Washington, according to three former senior U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter.
The Mossad infiltration into everything American is thick and was to be exposed in 2018 with an investigative documentary by Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera scheduled for broadcast that “centered on the young and personable James Anthony Kleinfeld, British, Jewish, an Oxford graduate who speaks six languages, including Dutch and Yiddish, and is well-informed about Middle East conflicts—seemingly a natural fit for a Western foreign ministry or a major think tank.”
Kleinfeld was recruited for his skills by the Israel Project (TIP), which “defends Israel’s image in the media, and associating with senior members of organizations that support Israel unconditionally, especially the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the powerful US lobbying group.”
The documentary showed Kleinfeld being enthusiastically recruited for his skills by The Israel Project (TIP), which defends Israel’s image in the media, and associating with senior members of organizations that support Israel unconditionally, especially the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the powerful US lobbying group. For five months, he mixed with them at cocktail parties, congresses, and conventions, and on training courses. He won their trust and they opened up to him, abandoning doublespeak and official lines. How, he asked, did they go about influencing the US Congress? “Congressmen don’t do anything unless you pressure them, and the only way to do that is with money.” How did they counter Palestinian-rights activists on university campuses? “With the anti-Israel people, what’s most effective, what we found at least in the last year, is you do the opposition research, put up some anonymous website, and then put up targeted Facebook ads.
It’s not like the State of Israel doesn’t know what it is doing:
Kleinfeld’s contacts told him they were spying on US citizens with the help of Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs, founded in 2006, which reports directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One official said: “We are a different government working on foreign soil, [so] we have to be very, very cautious.” And indeed some of the things they do could be subject to prosecution under US law.
This brings us to the case of Rebecca Weiner, a prime example of the hidden dangers of dual citizenship in sensitive government and agency positions.
Protests at Columbia University began on April 17, with students escalating their ongoing demonstration against Israel's actions in Gaza. They encamped on school grounds, refusing to leave until the university fully divested from its Israeli-related investments. This protest model spread to over 100 other universities in the U.S. and abroad.
Rebecca Weiner, an adjunct professor at Columbia University and the head of the NYPD's counter-terrorism bureau, led the violent crackdown on Columbia students protesting Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip. During a press conference on May 1, New York City Mayor Eric Adams praised Weiner for monitoring the situation and giving the green light to clear out the protesters by force, resulting in the arrest of nearly 300 people on university grounds.
I’m wondering how Weiner gained such agency and power over university students and the NYPD.
The NYPD's Counterterrorism Bureau maintains an office in Tel Aviv, yes, in Tel Aviv, where it coordinates with Israel's security apparatus. Weiner appears to act as a bridge between the Bureau's offices in Israel and New York, suggesting an inappropriate level of foreign influence on domestic policing. Even more disturbing is the secretive NYPD "Demographics Unit" within the Bureau, developed with the CIA, which has spied on Muslims and Palestine solidarity activists, even outside of New York. This unit was reportedly modeled on how Israeli authorities operate in the occupied West Bank.
During a press conference, Weiner blamed a police crackdown on protesters' language and symbols, like "headbands associated with foreign terrorist organizations," rather than any actual criminal behavior. This suggests an effort to recast political speech as terrorism, a tactic all too familiar to those who follow Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
During the post-raid press conference, Weiner blamed "outside agitators" and the protesters' language and symbols for triggering the crackdown, claiming they represented "a normalization and mainstreaming of rhetoric associated with terrorism." Mayor Adams repeatedly cast the crackdown as necessary to prevent the radicalization of young people without providing specifics.
NETANYAHU’S CONDEMNATION OF U.S. STUDENT PROTESTS FOLLOWED BY SWIFT IDF-TRAINED POLICE CRACKDOWN
The timing of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's condemnation of pro-Palestinian student protests in the United States and the subsequent police crackdown on these demonstrations raises serious questions about the influence of Israeli rhetoric on U.S. law enforcement actions.
On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, Netanyahu delivered a scathing speech, labeling the protests as "horrific" and claiming that "antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities.” He drew parallels to the rise of Nazism in 1930s Germany and called for the protests to be "stopped" and "condemned unequivocally.”
Mere hours after Netanyahu's inflammatory remarks, U.S. police forces, many of whom have received training from Israeli security forces, moved swiftly to quash the student demonstrations. At Columbia University, the epicenter of the protests, the NYPD arrested nearly 300 students just hours after Netanyahu's speech. Similar crackdowns occurred at other universities across the country.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t take these University protests seriously. But I can’t help but notice this as the perfect set-up for the recently passed “anti-semitism” law.
How long will the average American be duped by these political theatrics that always justify the evisceration of our constitutional rights?
The recent wave of anti-Israel protests on college campuses across the United States has been fueled, in part, by the financial backing of billionaire investor George Soros and his network of left-wing organizations. A New York Post investigation has revealed that Soros, through his Open Society Foundations and a web of affiliated non-profits, has funneled significant funds to groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace, and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR). These groups have been at the forefront of the protests, which began with a student occupation at Columbia University and quickly spread to other prestigious institutions like Harvard, Yale, and Berkeley.
The influence of Soros' money on these protests is particularly evident at Columbia, where students have set up a city of matching tents on the university's lawn, complete with supplies purchased from Amazon, free food from various restaurants, and coffee from Dunkin'. Soros' cash has been traced through his Open Society Foundations and other non-profits and has been crucial in sustaining these demonstrations. Additionally, the USCPR, another Soros-backed group, offers financial support to "fellows" who dedicate their time to organizing campaigns led by Palestinian organizations, further underscoring the role of outside funding in driving these protests.
The fact that these aggressive police actions followed so closely on the heels of Netanyahu's comments suggests a troubling level of coordination between Israeli leadership and U.S. law enforcement. It raises the specter of a foreign government wielding undue influence over the suppression of free speech and peaceful assembly in the United States.
THE EROSION OF THE POSSE COMITATUS ACT, THE LOSS OF PROTECTION
This militarization has accelerated in recent years through programs like the Pentagon's 1033 program that transfers military equipment to local law enforcement, which has already led to a more aggressive and confrontational approach to policing.
The recent crackdown on student demonstrations at Columbia University and other campuses bears the hallmarks of this IDF-influenced approach to policing. The use of heavily armed riot police, aggressive dispersal tactics, and mass arrests mirrors the methods used by Israeli forces against Palestinian protesters in the occupied territories. The fact that these tactics are being employed against students engaging in peaceful protest and civil disobedience raises serious concerns about the erosion of democratic principles and the chilling effect on free speech. It also highlights the dangerous consequences of allowing foreign military forces to shape the practices of U.S. law enforcement, particularly when those forces have a history of human rights abuses and suppressing dissent. As the militarization of police continues to escalate, fueled by IDF training and the weakening of restrictions like the Posse Comitatus Act, the right to protest and the freedom of expression are increasingly under threat, even on the campuses of our nation's most prestigious universities.
The events of the past week have shone a harsh light on the consequences of the unhealthy relationship between the U.S. government, universities, law enforcement, and Israel. When our police are taking their cues from a foreign government with a history of human rights abuses, the very foundations of our democracy are at risk.
THIS IS NOT ABOUT DOUBLE STANDARDS BUT HIGH STANDARDS
The concerns around dual citizenship extend beyond just Israel, of course. Imagine the outcry if we had a significant number of dual citizens in Congress with loyalty to China, Russia, or Iran. It would be seen as a major national security issue. So why do we turn a blind eye when it comes to Israel?
It is time for a thorough reevaluation of these ties and a recommitment to the principles of free speech and peaceful (non-Soros-backed) protests that define our nation.
It's time for a serious conversation about dual citizenship and the conflicts of interest it can create. I believe we need to pass legislation making it illegal for any official U.S. representative to hold dual citizenship with any country. It's a matter of national security to ensure that our government officials are acting solely in the interests of the American people.
If I had to do it as a city council member, they should be required to do so as well.
We must also investigate the role of dual citizens like Rebecca Weiner in our law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The American people deserve to know if foreign loyalties are influencing the actions of those sworn to protect and serve us.
As uncomfortable as it may be, we cannot ignore the potential dangers of dual citizenship in our government. The ties that bind us to other countries must not be allowed to compromise our national interests. It's time to take a hard look at where our officials' loyalties truly lie - and take action to ensure that the United States always comes first.
CALL TO ACTION
There is something you can do. I implore you to share this link widely with a Call to Action.
If your congressperson has dual citizenship, file a complaint saying that they are influenced by their secondary citizenship, owing allegiance to another nation's interests, and should be expelled for conflict of interest and inability to uphold their oath.
FILE YOUR COMPLAINT HERE:
https://oce.house.gov/contact-us/make-a-submission
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