Israeli Spies: 'Mega Was Not an Agent; Mega Was the Boss'by Jeffrey Steinberg, 2001

Israeli Spies: 'Mega Was Not
an Agent; Mega Was the Boss'by Jeffrey Steinberg

"According to the Journal account, the Mega Group was founded in 1991 by Wexler and Charles Bronfman, to add greater clout to the Isra li lobby, by establishing an informal, but all-powerful policymaking group, able to deploy billions of dollars in "charitable" funds for the maximum effect on U.S. policy toward Israel, the Mideast, and other issues of paramount importance to the Jewish megabillionaires. The Mega Group convenes twice a year, for two-day sessions, where, behind closed doors, the members make life-and-death decisions, affecting U.S. policy. Membership is by invitation only; the meetings are secret (the Wall Street Journalstory was the only coverage to ever appear in the U.S. media about the existence of the Mega Group, before the publication of this EIR account); and the members each kick in $30,000 in annual dues, to cover "operating expenses" for the twice-yearly sessions."


"... Emet (the Hebrew word for "truth"), JTA reported, is the collective brain-child of Leonard Abramson, Edgar Bronfman, and Michael Steinhardt—three of the leading Mega Group members (JTA made no mention of Mega). The Mega Group is expected to kick in $7 million to launch the new organization, with the Is eli Foreign Ministry also pledged to pony up $1 million in startup cash. But, lest there be any confusion about who's in charge at Emet, JTA revealed that "the group consulted with [Malcolm] Hoelein, [Abe] Foxman and other ish activists—and only then notified Is ra el's Foreign Ministry, Foxman said." Hoelein, the executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jeish Organizations, is a fanatical backer of the Sharon war-drive, a view he shared with the just-retired president of the group, Ronald Lauder, a big Sharon financial backer who met with Sharon in September 2000—just before the latter staged his provocation at the holy sites on the Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem, triggering the ongoing violence.
The Emet project has been criticized inside Isael, by Foreign Ministry officials and peace activists alike. As JTA reported, "Some Foreign Ministry officials grumbled that American nope were poaching on their turf. Not surprisingly, they would prefer that any extra money be funneled to the ministry's efforts.... Isr4el's left appeared concerned that hawkish American Jeevvs will use Emet to push a hard-line approach to the peace process." Steinhardt, Bronfman, and Abramson refused to talk about the project."


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