"Newly filed records with the Department of Justice show that Israel's government has quietly launched a two-track influence operation in the United States, blending big-budget political advertising with grassroots-style influencer campaigns. The filings reveal that a firm called Bridges Partners LLC has been hired to manage an influencer network under a project code-named the "Esther Project." It is unclear if there is any link to Project Esther, a plan to combat antisemitism published by the Heritage Foundation, an American right-wing think tank."
"In its disclosure, required under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Bridges said its work was intended to "assist with promoting cultural interchange between the United States and Israel" and specified that the engagement runs through a German division of the global PR firm Havas. Attached documents show that the firm, owned by Israeli consultants Uri Steinberg and Yair Levi, was formed in June 2025 in Delaware and soon after received nearly $200,000 to recruit and coordinate U.S.-based social media influencers."
"The contracts allow for up to $900,000 in payments over several months and include a detailed pricing schedule: $60,000 in upfront payments to cover influencer recruitment and concept development, another $140,000 in development-phase payments as five or six influencers began posting, and monthly allocations of up to $250,000 earmarked for influencer fees, production, and agency costs. A final $50,000 was budgeted for wrap-up and post-campaign reporting."
Israel initiated a two-track influence operation in the United States that pairs big-budget political advertising with a coordinated social-media influencer campaign. Bridges Partners LLC was retained to run an influencer network under the project name "Esther Project," with unclear ties to a Heritage Foundation plan called Project Esther. Bridges registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and said the work would assist cultural interchange between the United States and Israel via a German division of Havas. The Delaware-formed firm received nearly $200,000 initially, and contracts permit up to $900,000 in payments over several months for recruitment, content, and agency costs.
Read at Jewish Telegraphic Agency
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