Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)

From Powerbase
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Israeli government ministry responsible for foreign relations; since 2021 also in charge of the state's overseas hasbara (public diplomacy) work formerly run by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)

Logo Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel) logo.png
Ministry emblem
Type Government ministry
Headquarters 9 Yitzhak Rabin Boulevard, Jerusalem, Israel
Location Jerusalem
Services Foreign relations; embassies and consulates; public diplomacy (hasbara) abroad
Key people Gideon Sa'ar (minister); Eran Shayovich (chief of staff; head of Project 545)
Website gov.il/en/departments/ministry_of_foreign_affairs
Remarks Absorbed the functions and part of the staff of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy in July 2021[1]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) is the Israeli government ministry responsible for foreign relations, embassies and consulates. Since July 2021, when the government closed the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and moved its fields of activity and some of its staff to the Foreign Ministry, it has also been responsible for the campaign against what the government calls the delegitimisation of Israel, including the anti-BDS work that ministry had built.[1]

Under Gideon Sa'ar, foreign minister from late 2024, the ministry's public-diplomacy budget grew to about $150 million for 2025, a programme that became known as Project 545.[2][3] US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings name the ministry as the foreign principal of several US contractors, including Clock Tower X and Show Faith by Works, and its digital campaigns are bought through the Government Advertising Agency (LaPam).[4][5][6]

Taking over the Strategic Affairs programmes

The Seventh Eye reported in January 2022 that, before the Ministry of Strategic Affairs closed, the engagement with the public-benefit company Kela Shlomo had been extended to the end of 2021 and then, by foreign minister Yair Lapid, to mid-March 2022. Lapid proposed to continue the venture until at least the end of 2025, with NIS 25 million a year from the state subject to matching private money. A background paper for ministers said that continuing it "will allow the Foreign Ministry and the Government of Israel to plan and operate in a strategic and structured way" against delegitimisation (translated from Hebrew).[1]

According to leaked Israeli Ministry of Justice documents published by Distributed Denial of Secrets, which have not been independently verified, in October 2021 the Ministry of Justice told the Foreign Ministry that, as the Foreign Ministry had said there was "no need" to continue the engagement of the US law firm Sandler Reiff, no extension would be sought (translated from Hebrew).[7][8] In December 2021 lawyers from the Ministry of Justice and the Foreign Ministry asked Arnold & Porter to review the new government decision and "the new contract between Israel and the PBC (named 'Concert')" for FARA concerns, writing that "insofar as funding may be relayed to organizations situated in the US, there is an interest in not running afoul of FARA legislation and regulations".[9] After the government formed in December 2022, responsibility for Kela Shlomo passed to the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs.[10] See Voices of Israel – Together for Israel.

Public diplomacy since 2024

Jewish Insider reported in December 2024 that the ministry's 2025 public-diplomacy budget was "expected to be $150 million — over 20 times what it was before the war began in 2023", and that Sa'ar had insisted on the increase when his party joined the coalition. Sa'ar said: "We are in the middle of an effort to change the approach towards the whole topic that was once called hasbara, and that I call 'consciousness warfare'".[2] The Quincy Institute says the 545 million shekels allocated in late 2024 "became known as Project 545", led by the ministry's chief of staff, Eran Shayovich.[3] For 2026, The Jerusalem Post reported a coalition agreement on "a budget of NIS 2.35 billion for Israel advocacy campaigns".[11]

At the Knesset Finance Committee on 1 December 2025, a Treasury official said a transfer of NIS 150 million from the higher-education budget would fund the Foreign Ministry's "hasbara activity", split into "90 million shekels for hasbara campaigns and another 60 million for international delegations". The ministry's budget officer, Sigalit Shai, told the committee: "All 90 million go through LaPam. Through them we run digital campaigns. LaPam makes the engagement with companies." Asked whether the companies were in Israel or abroad, she answered: "Abroad." She said the delegations money was "only incoming delegations", usually chosen "on the recommendations of our ambassadors abroad", and that "out of the 545 from the coalition budget since the start of the year, about 140 million shekels were allocated for delegations" (translated from Hebrew).[6]

On 18 October 2026 the ministry published tender 31/2026 for "integration and consultancy services in the fields of strategy, media and production" for its Public Diplomacy Division, with bids due by 15 November 2026 (translated from Hebrew).[12]

FARA principal

US registrants naming the Foreign Ministry (selected)
Registrant (FARA no.) Principal as filed Official named Source
Clock Tower X (7649) "State of Israel"; branch "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Eran Shayovich [4]
Show Faith by Works (7653) "Israel - Ministry of Foreign Affairs" Eran Shayovich [5][13]

Delegations and events

Selected Foreign Ministry delegation and event contracts, 2025
Supplier Purpose (as published) Ministry funding Source
The Exigent Foundation (Canada) Two delegations to Israel: influencers from the "Iranian Justice Collective" (October 2025) and "a VIP delegation including former senior officials from the Canadian security establishment" (November 2025) Up to $128,800, booked to "Commitment item 09-51-92-14, Public Diplomacy Projects 545" [14]
Eagles' Wings (EIN 16-1462696), headed by Robert Stearns Large US events "to show support and sympathy for Israel", on a $1,409,000 programme budget Up to $700,000 [15]
Hebrew Ventures LLC (Israel365) "Israel365 America First MAGA Influencer Trip" for 16 influencers Up to $70,000 ($32,000 flights and $38,000 to the supplier) [16]
America-Israel Friendship League Delegations of US influencers on public-diplomacy visits to Israel $150,000 [17]

See Project 545 for further contracts.

Missions

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Itamar Benzaquen, שר החוץ יאיר לפיד מחזיר לחיים את מיזם "תודעת ההמונים" של נתניהו וארדן (Foreign Minister Yair Lapid brings Netanyahu and Erdan's "mass consciousness" project back to life) The Seventh Eye, 20 January 2022 (Hebrew; critical), read via the Internet Archive, accessed 21 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lahav Harkov, Israel's foreign minister is looking for a way to spend $150 million on public diplomacy Jewish Insider, 26 December 2024. Journalistic.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Nick Cleveland-Stout, The Eighth Front: Inside Israel's $1 Billion Influence Campaign Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, July 2026. Critical.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Clock Tower X LLC, Exhibits A and B (State of Israel) FARA eFile, 18 September 2025. FARA filing (primary).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Show Faith by Works, LLC, Registration Statement (FARA no. 7653) FARA eFile, US Department of Justice, 27 September 2025. FARA filing (primary).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Knesset Finance Committee, Protocol no. 775, "Changes to the 2025 budget", 1 December 2025 (Hebrew), transcript via Open Knesset, accessed 21 October 2026. Official (primary).
  7. ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Israel Ministry of Justice ddosecrets.org, 25 July 2024, accessed 21 October 2026. DDoSecrets lists the dataset in its "Cyberwar" category, warning of "an increased chance of malware, ulterior motives and altered or implanted data".
  8. ↑ Israel Ministry of Justice leak (Distributed Denial of Secrets), email from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Sandler Reiff engagement, 11 October 2021 (Hebrew), Library of Leaks entity 10946520 Library of Leaks, accessed 21 October 2026. Leaked document; authenticity not independently verified.
  9. ↑ Israel Ministry of Justice leak (Distributed Denial of Secrets), email from Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs lawyers to Arnold & Porter, 1–3 December 2021 (English), Library of Leaks entity 10945460 Library of Leaks, accessed 21 October 2026. Leaked document; authenticity not independently verified.
  10. ↑ The Seventh Eye, New petition demands Minister Chikli to reveal which "influence experts" he corresponds with The Seventh Eye, 18 May 2025, accessed 21 October 2026 (Wayback Machine capture). Critical.
  11. ↑ Tobias Holcman, Coalition approves NIS 2.35 billion for hasbara budget 2026 The Jerusalem Post, 6 December 2025. Journalistic.
  12. ↑ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tender 31/2026 (publication no. 4000622905): strategy, media and production integration and consultancy services for the Public Diplomacy Division mr.gov.il, published 18 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026. Official (primary).
  13. ↑ Show Faith by Works, LLC, Exhibits A and B, with budget and Havas Media supplier form FARA eFile, 27 September 2025. FARA filing (primary).
  14. ↑ Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tenders committee minutes 340/2025, 25 September 2025, with Hebrew scans, published by PressProgress (PDF), February 2026, accessed 21 October 2026. Official (primary), first published by PressProgress.
  15. ↑ Ministry of Foreign Affairs tenders committee, Protocol 366/2025: Eagles' Wings (attachment to notice 4000606871), 2 September 2025 (Hebrew), accessed 21 October 2026. Official (primary).
  16. ↑ Ministry of Foreign Affairs tenders committee, Protocol 294/2025: Hebrew Ventures LLC (attachment to notice 4000607417), 5 August 2025 (Hebrew), accessed 21 October 2026. Official (primary).
  17. ↑ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Exemption notice 4000608002: America-Israel Friendship League influencer delegations mr.gov.il, 20 October 2025. Official (primary).
  18. ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Consulate General of Israel in Atlanta, United States ddosecrets.org, 8 October 2024, accessed 21 October 2026. Filed under "Cyberwar, Hack, Government, Embassies", with the standard Cyberwar disclaimer.
Retrieved from "https://powerbase.info/index.php?title=Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs_(Israel)&oldid=294372"