Our Worst Ally A documented record of a close ally's conduct against American interests.

Category 05 of 05

Suppressing Criticism

Documented efforts to suppress criticism of Israel in the U.S., and the professional, legal, and institutional consequences faced by those who voiced it.

  1. Media-Monitoring Groups 1982–2026 Pro-Israel media-monitoring groups work openly to shape coverage by pressuring editors, which is lawful advocacy. In 2008 one of them ran a concealed campaign to place its people inside Wikipedia's administrative structure. The emails leaked, and Wikipedia sanctioned those involved. →
  2. The ADL Domestic Surveillance Scandal 1993 In 1993 San Francisco police raided the Anti-Defamation League's offices and documented a private intelligence operation running for decades: secret files on roughly 12,000 people and 950 organizations, built partly from confidential police data supplied by a corrupt inspector. The ADL settled and admitted nothing. →
  3. The IHRA Definition 2004–2026 The IHRA working definition of antisemitism, whose examples include certain criticism of Israel, has been written into U.S. civil-rights enforcement and tied to university funding. Its lead drafter, a self-described Zionist, says it was never meant to be a speech code and is being weaponized as one. →
  4. Anti-BDS Legislation 2014–2026 More than thirty states require government contractors to certify they will not boycott Israel, the only laws in America conditioning public contracts on a pledge about a foreign country. Four federal courts struck them down, one appeals court upheld them, and the Supreme Court declined to resolve it. →
  5. The Salaita Case 2014–2026 A tenured job offer was revoked over tweets criticizing Israel's 2014 Gaza assault. A federal court found a binding contract and protected speech, the university paid $875,000 and was censured by the AAUP, and its chancellor resigned amid the concealment of emails showing donor pressure. →
  6. Employment and Platform Suppression 2014–2026 After October 2023, workers across media, tech, law and service industries lost jobs over Palestinian solidarity speech. Two cases went to litigation, and an audit Meta commissioned itself found the company had systematically over-suppressed Palestinian content. →