Thanks to The Washington Free Beacon and a March 6 story, the public now knows the U.S. State Department has sent tens of thousands of dollars to an Israeli group that vocally opposes Netanyahu. The group, Movement for Quality Government, has received more than $38,000 since 2020 according to the Beacon, which reviewed funding documents.
Netanyahu, 73, was expected to be done with Israel’s national politics two years ago due to bribery scandals that dogged him and chased him out of office. But he returned as prime minister late last year when a right-wing coalition in the Knesset, six parties altogether, worked to bring him back into power for a sixth term.
Jan Markell, who leads Olive Tree Ministries, has supported Netanyahu’s political career for decades because he has unapologetically vowed to defend Israel from its Jew-hating enemies in the Middle East. Going back to the Bill Clinton administration, Markell has also witnessed the U.S. attempt to undermine him because the Left despises his tough stance and refusal to compromise Israel’s security.
“The Democrats say that he's committed war crimes,” she told American Family Radio this week. “They say that he's leading an apartheid state.”
After the Clinton administration worked against him, she said, the Obama administration attempted to do the same thing. That effort was also led by the State Department, where almost $350,000 flowed to a group called the OneVoice Movement that was campaigning against Netanyahu.
After its schemes have been uncovered, and Republicans in Congress demand answers, the State Department has insisted it is innocent of allegations it is tampering with the elections of a U.S. ally. This time is no different.
“The State Department has provided small grants to the Movement for Quality Government, including a grant signed in 2020 during the previous administration and continued under the Biden administration, that focused on teaching civic education and supporting good governance,” a State Department spokesman told the Beacon.
When a Democrat is in the White House, however, it appears "good governance" means a Knesset without Benjamin Netanyahu serving as prime minister.
