Sagi Balasha

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Sagi Balasha

Image Sagi Balasha.jpg
Sagi Balasha
Occupation Former chief executive, Israeli American Council; co-founder and chief executive, Kela Shlomo/Concert (2016–2018)
Known for Co-founding Concert; describing Israel Cyber Shield
Sagi Balasha Photo

Career

  • Sep 2016 - Present, CEO, OgenOgen - Jerusalem District, Israel [1]
  • Jun 2006 - Sep 2011 - VP Finance & Development, Beit Hatfutsot, Tel Aviv - Jaffa, Tel Aviv District, Israel
  • Nov 2001 - Jun 2006 - Director, Budget Department Director, Budget Department, Israel Ministry of Finance (when Netanyahu was Finance Minister)

Education

  • The Hebrew University of Jerusalem - MA, Public Policy, 2002 - 2005[1]
  • Ben Gurion University - BA, Economics and Geography, 1996 - 1999

Activities

Sagi Balasha is one of the board members, alongside Dore Gold, Yossi Kuperwasser, the former director general of the Strategic ministry and Ehud Danoch, the former Israeli consul general in Los Angeles, of Kella Shlomo, now Concert–Together for Israel a corporation “created” by the Israeli Government, and which received ‘$37 million from the Netanyahu government, and reportedly expects to raise the same amount through international donors, from “philanthropic sources” and “pro-Israel organizations”’The funding is aimed to “implement part of the ministry’s activities related to the struggle against the phenomena of delegitimization and boycotts against the State of Israel.” According to RT, in December 2017 the Israeli Government “approved plans to dedicate $75 million to fight the international Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.” Kella Shlomo will primarily target social media and online: engagement in the online space “the opponent directs most of his conscious and moving efforts to this space,” and will conduct ‘“mass awareness activities” and organize delegations of public opinion leaders “especially those who influence non-Jews.’ [3]

Concert - Together For Israel: Balasha is credited with being the co-founder and CEO of Concert. His LinkedIn page states Concerts mission: “to counter and undermine the global Israel deligitimization movement by providing the information, coordination and tools to enable the pro-Israel community to combat the demonization and hatred towards the State of Israel and improve dramatically the country’s positive perception and standing in world public opinion.” [1]

He attended the 3rd steering group on 10th December 2020 which discussed:

  • started working in Europe
  • begin working in coordination with 10+ online pro-Israel groups
  • building a high-tech platform, providing info to pro-Israel groups
  • building a strategy
  • building global tool for media campaigns
  • setting up media centers in Europe

In a blog post for the Times of Israel, Balashs stated the history of Ogen: “Ogen was founded thirty years ago as the Israel Free Loan Association, just as Israel welcomed over a million new immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union to fulfill their Zionist dreams. Sadly, dreams don’t pay bills, and the new arrivals didn’t have family wealth to anchor themselves in the land of their forefathers. With financial help from Ogen, they were able to thrive in the Jewish state.” [4]

Leaked emails

Emails in a cache attributed to Benny Gantz were 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.[5] Jack Poulson reported in September 2025 that an email of 1 June 2016 from Assaf Orion of the Institute for National Security Studies said that Sima Vaknin-Gil, director-general of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, intended Balasha, then chief executive of the Israeli American Council, "to be CEO of the government PBC", adding "(Milstein will be happy)" (translated from Hebrew). The same email said Vaknin-Gil wanted Balasha told that his existing project ("small intelligence, $0.5–2 million a year") would become part of the larger enterprise. Balasha later became chief executive of Concert - Together for Israel.[6][7]

A separate cache of emails from the private account of Ron Prosor, also released by Handala and published by DDoSecrets in October 2025, contains earlier correspondence from Balasha.[8] On 3 March 2016, under the subject "Establishing the PBC", Balasha told Prosor there was "a little progress from Minister Erdan's side on establishing the PBC" and suggested that Prosor delay "your phone call to him until next week, when we'll know better whether it is still stuck" (translated from Hebrew).[9] On 10 April 2016 he sent Prosor a job description for the director of a "network intelligence" (WebInt) monitoring project "for an organisation being established, working in the fight against the delegitimisation of Israel and BDS". The post would report "to the organisation's director and to the project's donors", and preference would be given to "senior veterans of the Israeli intelligence community" (translated from Hebrew).[10]

Kela Shlomo / Concert

The Seventh Eye listed Balasha, former chief executive of the Israeli American Council, among the founding team of Kela Shlomo.[11] Emails attributed to the hacked account of Ron Prosor, published by Distributed Denial of Secrets and not independently verified, show him writing on 3 March 2016 of "a little progress from Minister Erdan's side on establishing the PBC". On 10 April 2016 he sent Prosor a job description for the director of a "network-intelligence project" in "an organisation being established" to fight delegitimisation and BDS (translated from Hebrew).[12] In 2016 he described Israel Cyber Shield to an Israeli American Council audience as "a civil intelligence unit that collects, analyzes and acts upon the activists in the BDS movement".[13] The Seventh Eye reported that at a January 2020 meeting with ministry officials he spoke as the organisation's chief financial officer.[14]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sagi Balasha LinkedIn, archived on 14 February 2022
  2. ↑ Board of Directors, IS-Israel, archived on 15 December 2020 at https://archive.vn/wip/FUbWT Accessed on 15 December 2020
  3. ↑ Israel launches secret squad to challenge negative image & boycott campaign, Russia Today, 9 January 2018, archived on 14 February 2022
  4. ↑ Sagi Balasha, Israel’s tourism industry needs a Hanukkah miracle, Times of Israel, 16 December 2020, archived on 14 February 2022
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ Benny Gantz emails (released by Handala, published by Distributed Denial of Secrets), email from Assaf Orion (INSS) on a call with Sima Vaknin-Gil, 1 June 2016 (Hebrew), archive path beny/Inbox!5/0000003360, dataset page ddosecrets.org, accessed 21 October 2026. Leaked email; authenticity not independently verified.
  8. ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Ron Prosor emails ddosecrets.org, 3 October 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 warning of "an increased chance of malware, ulterior motives and altered or implanted data".
  9. ↑ Ron Prosor emails (released by Handala, published by Distributed Denial of Secrets), email from Sagi Balasha to Ron Prosor, "הקמת החל״צ" ("Establishing the PBC"), 3 March 2016 (Hebrew), archive path rprosor/Inbox/1 (425).html, dataset page ddosecrets.org, accessed 21 October 2026. Leaked email; authenticity not independently verified.
  10. ↑ Ron Prosor emails (released by Handala, published by Distributed Denial of Secrets), email from Sagi Balasha to Ron Prosor attaching "Job Description - WebInt Project's Director.docx", 10 April 2016 (Hebrew), archive path rprosor/Inbox/1 (270).html, dataset page ddosecrets.org, accessed 21 October 2026. Leaked email; authenticity not independently verified.
  11. ↑ Itamar Benzaquen, הממשלה תעביר 128 מיליון שקל לביצוע "פעילויות תודעת המונים" (The government will transfer NIS 128 million to carry out "mass consciousness activities") The Seventh Eye, 8 January 2018 (Hebrew; critical), read via the Internet Archive, accessed 21 October 2026.
  12. ↑ Ron Prosor emails (published by Distributed Denial of Secrets), emails from Sagi Balasha, "הקמת החל״צ" (Establishing the PBC), 3 March 2016, and "מנהל פרויקט המודיעין הרשתי" (Director of the network-intelligence project), 10 April 2016, with attached job description (Hebrew), archive paths Inbox/1 (425).html and Inbox/1 (270).html. Leaked emails; authenticity not independently verified.
  13. ↑ James Bamford, The Israel-Affiliated Organization Leading the Backlash Against Student Protests The Nation, May 2024 (critical), accessed 21 October 2026.
  14. ↑ Itamar Benzaquen, פרויקט הדגל של המשרד לנושאים אסטרטגיים נכשל; ארגון התעמולה "קלע שלמה" לא הצליח לגייס כסף (The Strategic Affairs Ministry's flagship project failed; the propaganda organisation "Kela Shlomo" failed to raise money) The Seventh Eye, 29 July 2020 (Hebrew; critical), read via the Internet Archive, accessed 21 October 2026.
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