[Note: This analysis expands on Edward Ahmed Mitchell’s “Israel’s Supporters Are Using Islamophobia to Distract From Genocide; Don’t Fall For It.” This report is an illustrative summary of the enduring threats confronting American Muslims.]
As international pressure mounts to hold Israel and India accountable for systematic human rights violations, networks aligned with the objectives of both governments have intensified movements to discredit, silence, and criminalize American Muslims and other anti-genocide voices.
These movements span Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and its U.S. public-relations contractors, often registered under foreign-agent laws. They include “Israel First” and anti-Muslim politicians who exploit public fear to deflect attention from domestic problems. Also involved are U.S. groups like Daniel Pipes’ Middle East Forum and activist Laura Loomer, both long known for Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian rhetoric.
At the same time, supporters of India’s far-right Hindutva movement, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, similarly aim to discredit, silence, and criminalize efforts by those seeking to call attention to the warning signs of genocide, targeted violence and attacks on places of worship directed at primarily Muslim, Christian, and Sikh minorities in that nation.
These movements threaten equal access to social opportunities and equal protection under the law for American Muslims. Muslims and others seeking to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians and others often face unjust barriers, mosques seeking security grants to protect worshippers may face vilification, and students interested in political expression will continue to find themselves silenced by university administrators. Muslims and others seeking to advance the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom’s repeated calls for our government to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern face weaponized AI, lawsuits intended to send a chilling message to academics and journalists, and in at least one instance an apparently government-backed assassination attempt of a U.S. citizen.
Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and its U.S. public-relations contractors, registered under foreign-agent laws
[Note: CAIR’s analysis below relies heavily on reporting produced by Drop Site News and Responsible Statecraft. We appreciate their substantive efforts to document this issue.]
In late 2024, Israel reportedly increased its global public relations budget by $150 million. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said this money would support the government’s “consciousness warfare” efforts. This investment comes as unfavorable views of the Israeli government have risen significantly in the United States during the Gaza genocide.
Part of these efforts involves creating public fear of Muslims. Leaked 2025 documents produced by Stagwell Global, a PR firm whose founder is tied to the Likud Party, reveal findings from research Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissioned. Drop Site New notes the research finds, “Israel’s best tactic to combat this, according to the study, is to foment fear of ‘Radical Islam’ and ‘Jihadism,’ which remain high.”
Meeting with social media influencers in New York in September 2025, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu highlighted another part of these efforts when he discussed the need to “fight” for social media and described the acquisition of TikTok in the U.S. by Israel First investors as “the most important purchase.” He added that X (formerly Twitter) is also critical, “If we can get those two things, we get a lot.”
Drop Site News also reports that Google entered into a reported $45 million agreement to amplify content produced by the Israeli government. “Publicly available government contracts show that Israel’s advertising bureau, which reports to the prime minister’s office, has since embarked on a mass advertising and public messaging effort to conceal the hunger crisis. The push includes the use of American influencers widely reported on last month. It also includes a high-dollar spending spree on paid advertising, yielding tens of millions for Google, YouTube, X, Meta, and other tech platforms,” says Drop Site News.
American individuals and entities seeking paid work tied to Israel’s “consciousness warfare” investments must register with the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) when they act on behalf of a foreign government. This requirement ensures the public can see when a foreign government is trying to shape domestic opinion or policy.
Responsible Statecraft reports, “A newly-created firm called Show Faith by Works is embarking on a ‘geofencing’ campaign to target Christian churches and colleges across the American Southwest with pro-Israel advertisements” in October. Responsible Statecraft staff reviewed a FARA filing which says that the cell phone numbers of Christians attending worship services in four states will be harvested so the owners can be fed pro-Israel advertising. The larger $3.2 million contract “also includes trying to hire celebrity spokespeople and paying pastors to produce content.” Al Jazeera’s reporting adds, “Show Faith by Works also promises Israel that it will conduct “the largest Geofencing and Christian targeting campaign in US history.” Geofencing uses GPS tracking data to create a virtual boundary around a location so that data collection can occur when devices, such as cell phones, enter the boundary. The proposal also promises a VR “10/7 Experience” that could be toured to churches and other Christian gatherings.
That same reporting notes that another firm, Clock Tower X LLC, “plans to deploy AI-driven tools: monthly SEO campaigns using the MarketBrew AI platform and efforts to shape outputs of GPT-based chatbots.” This campaign promises, “promises to produce 100 ads or pieces of content each month, plus 5,000 different variations of those ads.”
In September, Sludge reported that Democratic-aligned PR firm SKDKnickerbocker LLC signed a $600,00 contract to unleash a “bot-based program” to “flood the zone” with pro-Israel content on “Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other platforms.” Sludge reports that the contract, “also tasks SKDK with coaching Israeli civil society spokespeople for on-camera appearances, testing the effectiveness of social media influencers, and arranging tailored outreach to journalists at outlets including BBC, CNN, Fox, and the Associated Press to secure favorable coverage.”
Around the same time, Axios reported that “Brad Parscale, a top aide on President Trump’s first two campaigns, registered as a foreign agent to work on Israel’s behalf and create digital media combating antisemitism.” The Axios article notes that most Americans oppose sending more military and economic aid to Israel and that the Israeli government is “particularly alarmed” by its declining favorability among your MAGA Republicans.
The Quincy Institute and Public Citizen filed a complaint with the Department of Justice following Responsible Statecraft’s reporting, “that Israel is paying a cohort of 14-18 social media influencers an estimated $7,000 per post through a firm called Bridges Partners to work on a campaign called “Esther Project.” Responsible Statecraft reported, “despite this cohort posting on social media for the past five months, not a single influencer working for Israel appears to have publicly acknowledged their work for Israel.” [Note: Responsible Statecraft is the Quincy Institute’s online magazine.]
In December, Responsible Statecraft reported that Israeli-American actor Noa Tishby’s Act For Israel had arranged media interviews for IDF officials who had come to the US on a public relations trip. The article quotes Qunicy Institute’s Ben Freeman, an expert on FARA, saying “That sounds like a slam-dunk case of activities that should have required FARA registration.”
“Israel First” politicians who exploit public fear to deflect attention from domestic problems
[NOTE. This section discusses sharia, a term often mischaracterized in American political discourse. Readers are reminded that the U.S. Constitution is the law of the land. No faith group can impose its beliefs on the American people, and no branch of the government can prevent the American people from practicing their various faiths. Every time Muslims pray five times a day, fast in Ramadan, donate in charity, and abstain from consuming alcohol and pork, they are following sharia. A universal rule of sharia is that Muslims must strive to obey the laws of the land on which they live so long as those laws do not require inherently immoral behavior such as not praying. For a fuller discussion of Islam’s sharia see Epic Hate in Texas.]
In October 2025, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) declared on the Senate floor that “there is only room for one law in this country, and that’s the Constitution of the United States of America,” and said those who practice Sharia should be deported immediately. In a related public post, he tweeted, “BAN SHARIA LAW. It has NO PLACE in America.” Tuberville stands “unequivocally with Israel.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) has pressed for legislative action to restrict admission of visitors to the U.S. adhering to Sharia, stating that “America is facing an existential threat – the spread of Sharia Law … America’s immigration system must be fortified to counter the importation of Sharia adherents.” On Israel, he issued a press release asserting “unwavering support of the historic partnership between Israel and the United States.”
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) signed House Bill 4211 into law, declaring that “we will ensure that we have the laws and law enforcement in place to prevent attempts to build such discriminatory compounds in the state of Texas” and that the statute would “ban residential property developments … from creating Sharia compounds.” He further took to X to assert, “To be clear, Sharia law is not allowed in Texas. Nor are Sharia cities. Nor are ‘no go zones’ which this project seems to imply.” On Israel, Abbott warned the city of San Marcos against a proposed resolution calling for an embargo of the country, writing that the resolution “violates state law” and reiterating that “Israel is a stalwart ally of the United States and a friend to Texas.”
Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) has made repeated statements targeting Islam and Muslims, including saying Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) was having a hard time seeing Congress welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah, a “killer of … fellow Muslim terrorists” in social media remarks that drew bipartisan criticism for racism and Islamophobia. On Israel, Fine called for starvation as a tactic until hostages are released, tweeting, “Release the hostages. Until then, starve away.” This tactic is a war crime.
Governor Ron DeSantis endorsed Florida House Bill 119, the so-called “No Sharia Act.” CAIR asserts the bill matches language in the American Laws for American Courts template legislation credited to David Yerushalmi. Through his organization Yerushalmi once proposed, “It shall be a felony punishable by 20 years in prison to knowingly act in furtherance of, or to support the, adherence to Islam.” He later changed this language to focus on sharia.
U.S. groups like Daniel Pipes’ Middle East Forum, long known for Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian rhetoric
The Middle East Forum, whose Knesset Liaison used to advise Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is famous for its founder’s belief that “Western European societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene…All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most.”
In 2025, Fox News reported that the Department of Homeland Security is reviewing grants often awarded to bolster security at religious sites—particularly those given to Muslim organizations.
Fox News noted this was occurring in part, “In response to the MEF’s findings” in a study it circulated early in 2025.
Far-right Hindutva networks who fuel Islamophobia to distract from Indian Prime Minister Modi’s targeting of religious minorities
In late 2024, Genocide Watch concluded, “In India, all the early warning signs of genocide against Muslims are present.” The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has for several years urged the Department of State to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern for engaging in “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations” of religious freedom.
The harmful impacts of far-right Hindutva leader Narendra Modi’s targeting of religious minorities in India are reflected in the actions of his government’s apologists in the U.S.
In 2024, a community survey from the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) in partnership with ReThink Media on the ‘detrimental effects’ of Hindutva nationalism on Indian American Muslim communities found:
- A significant majority of [Muslim] respondents reported experiencing harassment, discrimination, or prejudice from Hindu friends or social contacts over the past decade.
- 80% of respondents stated they feel less comfortable in Indian American spaces since the rise of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
- 48% of respondents reported harassment on social media, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and LinkedIn.
- 94% of respondents strongly agreed that Hindutva nationalism poses a threat to religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians, in both India and the U.S.
A few months later, the Department of Justice charged a second Indian government employee for “conspiring to assassinate a U.S. citizen of Indian origin on U.S. soil.” Reporting in USA Today asserted, “U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that senior officials in the Modi administration likely authorized the alleged plot” targeting the Sikh man.
This year, Rutgers University’s Center for Security, Race and Rights mirrored the above, “Hindutva advocates undermine American pluralism and spread hate against Muslims, Sikhs and other minority groups within American society.” This has included a Quran burning in Illinois, the use of a bulldozer–a symbol of anti-Muslim violence by far-right Hindutva extremists–during an India Day Parade in New Jersey, and efforts to “send a chilling message” to academics and journalists who have spoken out against the Indian government’s oppression and violence against Muslims.
Also this year, the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) “released a new study documenting how generative AI tools are being weaponized to produce and spread anti-Muslim visual hate at scale across social media platforms in India.” Their study found, “sexualized depictions of Muslim women drew the highest engagement.”
This generative AI finding becomes particularly relevant to American Muslims and other minorities targeted by the far-right Hindutva movement as in 2022, Australia’s Islamic Council of Victoria reported, “Nearly 86% of geolocated anti-Muslim posts originated in just three places: India, the US and the UK.” The study notes, “[India’s ruling BJP political party] has actively normalised hatred towards Muslims such that 55.12% of Islamophobic tweets now originate in India.”
Conclusion
This report warns that as global momentum builds to hold Israel and India accountable for systemic human rights abuses, networks tied to both governments—alongside their American allies—are escalating efforts to discredit, silence, and criminalize American Muslims. These include PR firms registered as foreign agents waging “consciousness warfare,” U.S. politicians exploiting Islamophobic narratives under the guise of protecting against “Sharia,” and activists spreading propaganda through AI-driven disinformation and other intimidation campaigns. Together, these actors seek to erode Muslims’ equal protection under U.S. law, obstruct humanitarian work, and suppress political speech, while deflecting attention from state violence abroad.
Groups invested in global accountability and domestic free speech should consider investing in greater in-house capacity to track, expose, and counter pro-genocide, Islamophobic and Hindutva-aligned AI and media disinformation. These groups should strengthen partnerships with civil rights and press freedom organizations to resist chilling lawsuits and efforts to suppress legitimate criticism of state actions. CAIR also urges these groups to provide legal and institutional protection for researchers and journalists targeted by coordinated intimidation.
