Israeli American Council
The Israeli American Council is an organisation for Israeli ex-patriots living in the US.
History
It was reportedly founded in Los Angeles in 2007 by a group of Israeli-American businessmen. It was initially called the Israeli Leadership Club and then the Israeli Leadership Council.
In 2014 'as part of a drive to expand from its Los Angeles base to US cities with major concentrations of Israeli expatriates', an office was established in Las Vegas, following the opening of others in Boston and Miami.[1]
Miriam Adelson, wife of Sheldon Adelson is chair of the Las Vegas branch. She said at the launch: 'The Israeli- American Council is changing the landscape of the Jewish community in America… through the full spectrum of educational, cultural, traditional and social programming. We are always thinking of strengthening the Jewish and Israeli identity of future generations and their endless support for the State of Israel'
Activities
Tom Tugend in the Jerusalem Post reports that IAC’s three-fold mission is: 'to support Israel, strengthen Jewish identity among young Israeli-Americans, and enhance communication between the Israeli-American and older Jewish-American communities.'
'Among its major programs are the Israel Independence Festival; Sifriyat Pijama B’America, which distributes Hebrew children’s books throughout the United States; Mishelanu, to set up young leadership groups on college campuses; and Tzav 8, which organizes activists to participate in demonstrations and other pro-Israel activities.'[1]
Supporting other organisations
The IAC's website states that it supports StandWithUs, Act for Israel and Project Interchange as well as Hillel and Garin Tzabar, 'a program that provides assistance and transitional support to Jewish young adults, ages 18-23, who have chosen to move to Israel and serve in the Israeli Defense Forces'.[2]
Affiliations
People
Funding
Leaked emails and documents
According to emails from a cache attributed to Benny Gantz that was released in 2025 by the hacking group Handala, which Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets) says is "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and published by DDoSecrets. The authenticity of the emails has not been independently verified.[3] On 31 December 2015 Adam Milstein wrote to Benny Gantz that "I and the IAC are currently working on few projects in Israel to combat BDS… We're in discussion with Minister Gilad Erdan to sponsor the event". On 14 January 2016 he invited Gantz to "a 'by invitation only' meeting with the largest CyberTech companies in Israel to recruit them to help in the fight against the Delegitimization of Israel", with Gilad Erdan, "the Minister of Strategic Affairs", as opening speaker. The registration confirmation said the meeting was held by CyberTech and the IAC "in cooperation with the Ministry of Strategic Affairs" (translated from Hebrew).[4] Jack Poulson reported that a June 2016 email in the cache said director-general Sima Vaknin-Gil intended IAC chief executive Sagi Balasha to run the ministry's planned public-benefit company, adding "Milstein will be happy".[5]
Files from the Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast US in Atlanta, released by hackers in an operation they called "Op Anti Lobby" and published by Distributed Denial of Secrets (not independently verified),[6] include an RSVP form for a consulate lecture by Alex Ryvchin on 4 November 2019. The form listed the "Israeli-American Council" among the organisations that had sent invitations.[7]
Contact
- Website: IsraeliAmerican.org
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tom Tugend, Israeli American Council expands to Vegas Jerusalem Post, 4 April 2014, accessed 12 April 2014
- ↑ Supported Organizations, IAC, accessed 12 April 2014
- ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Benny Gantz emails ddosecrets.org, 27 August 2025, accessed 21 October 2026. DDoSecrets says the emails "were released by Handala, a hacking group that is believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and applies its "Cyberwar" disclaimer.
- ↑ Benny Gantz emails (released by Handala, published by Distributed Denial of Secrets), emails from Adam Milstein, 31 December 2015 and 14 January 2016, and a CyberTech registration confirmation, archive path
benny@bgprime.co.il/Inbox/1 (352).html; mbox/convert/z (17).html; benny@bgprime.co.il/Inbox/1 (74).html, dataset page ddosecrets.org, accessed 21 October 2026. Leaked email; authenticity not independently verified. - ↑ Jack Poulson, Leak indicates billionaire funders of Israeli cyber campaign targeting anti-apartheid activists All-Source Intelligence (Substack), 17 September 2025, updated 27 September 2025.
- ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Consulate General of Israel in Atlanta, United States ddosecrets.org, 8 October 2024, accessed 21 October 2026. Released by hackers calling the operation "Op Anti Lobby"; DDoSecrets "Cyberwar" disclaimer applies.
- ↑ Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast US, Greenvelope RSVP form for "Lecture with Alex Ryvchin" (4 November 2019), event 2805707 in the DDoSecrets Atlanta consulate dataset, accessed 21 October 2026. Leaked; authenticity not independently verified.