Israel Hires Ex-Trump Adviser Brad Parscale for Multimillion-Dollar AI Influence Campaign
Published on Reflecto News | World News | Technology & Geopolitics
The Israeli government has hired Brad Parscale, a former top adviser to Donald Trump, to run a multimillion-dollar campaign aimed at influencing how artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini portray Israel. The strategy involves creating structured, factual websites designed to be picked up by AI systems, increasing the chances that pro-Israel content appears in responses to user queries .
The campaign, which operates through Parscale’s consultancy Clock Tower X, represents a new frontier in information warfare: targeting the large language models (LLMs) that are increasingly becoming the primary source of information for millions of users worldwide.
Inside the Contract: ‘Sentiment Movement’ and Search Manipulation
Israel entered into a multimillion-dollar contract with Clock Tower X in August 2025, shortly after the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran began . According to Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) documents filed with the U.S. Department of Justice, the agreement calls for Clock Tower X to deploy a network of front websites and conduct “monthly search engine optimization campaigns” .
The contract explicitly states that Israel’s money must be used to fund the “deployment of websites and content to deliver framing results on GPT conversations” . More notably, the agreement stipulates that Clock Tower X’s performance will be evaluated based on how effectively its content achieves “sentiment movement” among the individuals it reaches .
When contacted by the Washington Examiner, Parscale confirmed the operation’s objectives. “You didn’t ‘uncover’ anything,” Parscale told the publication. “The entities and activities you reference are explicitly disclosed in our FARA filings. Our filings are publicly available and make clear we are committed to transparency and compliance with the law” .
The Front Website Network: ‘Econora,’ ‘Innovascope,’ ‘Paxpoint’
Clock Tower X has established at least 11 front websites that publish favorable information about Israel and the war in Iran . While the sites appear to be independent organizations at first glance, all include statements disclosing that they are run by Clock Tower X “on behalf of the State of Israel” . Documents filed with the DOJ indicate this network has published hundreds of pages’ worth of articles since the war began .
The websites include:
| Website Name | Purported Focus |
|---|---|
| Econora | U.S.-Israeli economic cooperation |
| Innovascope | Israeli technological innovation |
| Paxpoint | “Israel’s ongoing commitment to peace and coexistence” |
| Compassion Pulse | Human costs of war, critical of Israel’s enemies |
| Allyvia | Arguments that U.S.-Israeli alliance benefits Americans |
| Culturavia | Cultural links between the U.S. and Israel |
| Cognitura | “Research and education platform” on radical group recruitment |
| Justorium | Law-focused pro-Israel blog |
| Fact Signal | Pro-Israel fact-checking website |
| Feeding You Fiction | Pro-Israel fact-checking website |
| Truth About Iran | Criticism of Iran |
Source: Washington Examiner
The contract requires Clock Tower X to produce roughly 100 core pieces of pro-Israel content per month along with thousands of derivative versions, primarily distributed on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube . The target audience is young Americans across Gen Z, a demographic that has shown decreasing support for Israel .
How the AI Manipulation Works
The strategy involves creating structured, factual-appearing websites designed to be indexed and retrieved by large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini . AI systems scrape vast portions of the internet to inform their responses. By flooding this training data with pro-Israel content, Clock Tower X aims to increase the probability that Israel-favorable information appears when users ask the AI about topics related to the Middle East .
One clause in Parscale’s contract outlines a “Search and Language Operation” designed to influence both search engines and generative AI systems, including ChatGPT and Claude, to “frame discourse about Israel” .
Parscale defended the approach, telling the Washington Examiner that his efforts were not a “foreign influence campaign” but rather an effort to combat misinformation. “We are identifying and addressing demonstrably false claims by Iran and amplified by outlets that fail to vet the information properly,” he said. “The facts we publish are fully aligned with longstanding U.S. policy, including the current administration’s support for Israel as America’s primary ally in the region” .
The Financial Scale: $6 Million Up Front
Israel’s contract with Clock Tower X discloses that the government paid the firm a $6 million lump sum, plus an additional $3 million as an “advertising budget” . The Israeli government was initially paying Clock Tower X $1.5 million per month .
The campaign is part of much broader Israeli efforts to influence public opinion. In December 2025, Israel announced it had allocated 2.35 billion shekels (approximately $750 million) to expand its international communications strategy .
A Digital ‘Iron Dome’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the digital campaign as the “Eighth Front” of the war — a digital offensive to shape global opinion . Dubbed the “Digital Iron Dome” by some analysts, the strategy merges AI optimization, social media influencers, and mass content production to promote pro-Israel narratives .
Netanyahu has long emphasized social media as a “weapon” that Israel can use to its advantage. In recent months, he has personally met with pro-Israel influencers and encouraged the amplification of Israeli government messaging across digital platforms .
The Church and Evangelical Component
Beyond AI manipulation, Israel’s campaign includes a separate $3 million effort targeting conservative churches and Christian colleges, outlined in a contract with Show Faith by Works, a firm run by Republican consultant Chad Schnitger .
Described as “the largest geofencing campaign in U.S. history,” the plan involves mapping the perimeters of churches in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado during worship hours. Using commercial data, the campaign identifies cell phones entering these perimeters and delivers targeted, pro-Israel advertisements . The messages lean on “biblically based arguments” portraying Palestinians as allies of Hamas and enemies of Christianity . The projected reach is eight million worshippers and four million Christian students .
Expert Concerns: ‘Manipulating Search Engine Results’
The campaign has drawn sharp criticism from government ethics experts and disinformation researchers.
“The current lobbying efforts by the Israeli government to influence American public policy and American public opinion are anything but normal lobbying activity,” Craig Holman, a government ethics and lobbying expert at Public Citizen, told the Washington Examiner .
“Manipulating search engine results is just another step in that lobbying campaign — a step I have never heard of taken before by any foreign or domestic lobbying interest,” Holman said .
The tactic specifically targets the way large language models retrieve and present information. Unlike traditional search engine optimization (SEO), which focuses on ranking in list-based results, AI optimization seeks to influence the narrative frame that these generative tools produce in natural language responses.
AI Company Responses: Lack of Transparency
Multiple AI companies were contacted about the campaign. OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, did not respond to requests for comment . Anthropic, the maker of Claude, has acknowledged that such manipulation is a challenge. Claude uses third-party infrastructure to scrape the internet for information, which can lead to varying results at any given time. Anthropic told the Washington Examiner that it “regularly reviews instances in which low-quality sources are presented to users and works to lower the probability of future occurrences” .
Gemini (formerly Bard), developed by Google, has not publicly addressed the specific campaign. TikTok was the only major platform that responded to inquiries about content manipulation, though specific details of its response were not made public .
Effectiveness: A Question Mark
Despite the significant investment and ambitions, the effectiveness of the campaign remains unclear. The Washington Examiner noted that it was unable to get ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or Claude to cite websites from Clock Tower X’s network through prompted queries .
Other researchers have raised doubts about whether AI-driven narrative manipulation can achieve lasting “sentiment movement” among target audiences. The contract’s explicit goal of shifting sentiment suggests a sophisticated, data-driven approach, but experts caution that AI systems are also evolving to detect and filter low-quality, manipulated content.
Broader Context: Israel’s Information War
The AI campaign is part of a larger Israeli effort to combat what officials describe as a rising tide of anti-Israel and antisemitic content online. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has faced unprecedented levels of criticism on social media, particularly from younger demographics .
In addition to the Clock Tower X contract, Israel has also signed agreements with Democratic-aligned firm SKDKnickerbocker to run bot networks that “flood” social media with pro-Israel messaging and with Washington firm Bridges Partners to recruit influencers—described as “digital soldiers” by Netanyahu—to post hundreds of times monthly in support of Israel .
What Comes Next
The Clock Tower X contract represents a new phase in information warfare: targeting the AI models that are rapidly becoming the primary interface between humans and information. As large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are increasingly integrated into search engines, customer service, and everyday applications, the incentive to shape their outputs will only grow.
Parscale and Clock Tower X have registered their activities fully with U.S. authorities, a step many foreign influence operations avoid. But critics argue that this transparency does not diminish the ethical concerns of using a nation’s resources to manipulate the information ecosystem.
“Ensuring that accurate information is represented in search and AI systems is ethical and critical, given how these systems now shape public understanding,” Parscale told the Washington Examiner .
Whether the campaign succeeds in shifting how AI systems portray Israel remains to be seen. But the precedent is clear: governments now view AI training data as a strategic battleground — and they are spending millions to win it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: Who is Brad Parscale?
Brad Parscale is a digital strategist who managed Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign and served as digital media director for Trump’s 2016 campaign. He now runs Clock Tower X, a consultancy hired by the Israeli government .
Q2: How much is Israel paying for this campaign?
Israel paid Clock Tower X a $6 million lump sum plus an additional $3 million advertising budget. The initial contract included $1.5 million in monthly payments . The broader Israeli digital propaganda campaign is estimated to cost approximately $100 million .
Q3: What is the goal of the campaign?
The campaign aims to influence how AI systems like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini portray Israel, particularly regarding the war in Iran and Israel’s broader regional policies. The contract explicitly seeks “sentiment movement” among target audiences .
Q4: Has Israel done this before?
Yes. Israel has previously run similar campaigns targeting search engines, social media, and traditional media outlets. The Clock Tower X contract represents an escalation into AI-specific manipulation .
Q5: Is this legal?
Yes. Clock Tower X has registered its activities with the U.S. Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which is legally required for individuals and entities lobbying on behalf of foreign governments .
Q6: Is the campaign working?
The effectiveness is unclear. The Washington Examiner was unable to get the targeted AI systems to cite Clock Tower X’s content through standard queries. However, the contract’s explicit “sentiment movement” metric suggests that the campaign is tracking its impact .
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