Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, August/September 2020, pp. 32-33
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By Grant F. Smith
Under strong pressure from Congress, on July 6, 2020, the U.S. Small Business Administration, after consultation with the U.S. Department of Treasury, disclosed information about 4.9 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
The loans were intended to provide relief to U.S. businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic. Companies applying through their banks for these Small Business Administration loans had to certify the money was “necessary to support the ongoing operations.”
PPP loan funds spent to cover payroll, mortgage interest, rent or utilities are eligible for complete forgiveness. Vast numbers of American small businesses found their banks would not return phone calls or process loans. But a number of nonprofit organizations identified in the database of the book “Big Israel: How Israel’s Lobby Moves America” as being heavily involved in advancing Israel from within the U.S. received substantial support.
| PPP Loan Amount | Recipient | Activities |
| $5-10 million | Anti-Defamation League | Advocates for Israel, charges pro-Palestinian activists with anti-Semitism, trains law enforcement officials, infiltrates and disrupts peace & justice groups. |
| $150,000- 350,000 | Jewish Institute for National Security of America – JINSA | Sends U.S. military and police to Israel for training. |
| $350,000-1 million | Zionist Organization of America – ZOA | Lobbies Congress on behalf of Israel. Ordered to register seven times as an Israeli foreign agent. |
| $2-5 million | Friends of the Israel Defense Forces | Builds recreational facilities on IDF bases in Israel. |
| $1-2 million | Israel Emergency Alliance | Promotes Israel on campus and urges the public to buy Israeli goods. Portrays Israel as a perpetually seeking peace (“Peace takes Two” program) against Palestinian “intransigence.” |
| $1-2 million | Israeli American Council | Organization launched in 2007 funded by casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, mobilizes the estimated half-million Israeli Americans residing in the U.S. to be more active on behalf of Israel. |
| $350,000-1 million | Israel on Campus Coalition | Creates and mobilizes pro-Israel groups on American campuses. |
| $2-5 million | Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemeth Leisrael) Inc. | Acquired and developed land for Jewish settlement. Tree planting. |
| $1-2 million | American Society for Technion-Israel Institute for Technology, Inc | Raises funds for Israel’s MIT, which has been credibly alleged to perform work on Israel’s nuclear weapons program. |
Source: Small Business Administration loans database, $150,000 or more.
Branches of two Israeli banks heavily involved in occupied West Bank development participated in the PPP program. Bank Leumi originated 423 PPP loans and lent between a quarter to a half billion dollars under the program while Bank Hapoalim originated seven loans.
Among Leumi’s PPP loans were two projects of the Virginia Israel Advisory Board. Energix EPC US LLC is a subsidiary of Energix Renewable Energies which builds power plants to serve Israeli customers, which operate in the Israeli occupied West Bank and Golan Heights. Energix received $2-5 million in PPP loans. Oran Safety Glass, which makes bullet-proof glass and paid millions in fines after delivering substandard products to the US Army, received $1-2 million.
Grant F. Smith is the director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy in Washington, DC. Smith’s books, Big Israel: How Israel’s Lobby Moves America and The Israel Lobby Enters State Government, are available at Middle East Books and More.
SIDEBARUpdate on Another Misuse of Government FundsOur report “Partners in Corruption: The Virginia Israel Advisory Board and the Tobacco Commission,” detailed a questionable deal (see Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Jan./Feb. 2020, pp. 17-19). The Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission agreed to forgive a $210,000 loan to Virginia Israel Advisory Board Vice Chairman Charles Lessin. Lessin had personally hoped to operate a refinery with Israel’s TransBioDiesel in St. Paul, VA. The project failed. But in 2019 the Virginia Israel Advisory Board chairman claimed the VIAB was creating so many jobs and businesses in Virginia ($639.85 million in capital expenditures and 727 jobs) that Lessin should not have to repay his own loan.Jim Metz of Richmonders for Peace in Israel-Palestine filed a complaint on Nov. 25, 2019 to the Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG) that the deal did not comply with state regulations. On July 6, OSIG notified Metz by letter it found his complaint was “substantiated” and must be redressed by the Tobacco Commission.To view a video of James Metz speaking about VIAB at The Israel Lobby and American Policy conference in 2019, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz3jShf-Hmo. |