Former Israeli official Merav Ceren, who caused a stir when she was appointed in April to head of the Israel and Iran desk at Trump's National Security Council has lost her position in a agency-wide purge that left "scores" political appointees and career officials cleaning out their desks on Friday.
A former "national security fellow" at the pro-Israel Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Ceren had said on her resume that said she had previously served in a negotiating role for Israel’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories and Palestinian Authority officials. President Trump had called her a "patriotic American" when her posting was announced.
The rest of those relieved from duty are a mix of political appointees which will be left with no jobs, and career civil servants who had been attached to other agencies (typically, State Department and Pentagon) and will go back to posts at those departments. This all comes at the direction of Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State who has been assigned acting National Security Advisor (and head of NSC) in the wake of Mike Waltz's reassignment to the UN earlier this month.
Rubio has appointed Andy Baker (who works for Vice President JD Vance) and Robert Gabriel (who advises Trump) as his NSC deputies.
The Friday firings should come as no surprise as the administration has been signaling its desire to scale down the White House national security agency which critics say has become too bloated and unwieldy over recent years. The agency inherited from Biden stood at about 215 plus about 180 support staff. That is actually smaller than the Bush II/Obama years, which is when the protraction reportedly began — they had 204 and 222 respectively, according to the Washington Post. In his first term Trump had scaled down to 110 from the previous Obama term.
According to the Post, Trump is aiming to get back down to the Brent Scowcroft years (he served as National Security Advisor to Presidents Reagan and Bush I) and earlier, when NSC's were tight. The NSC is supposed to be "coordinating and implementing work originating in the departments and then ensuring the president’s decisions are implemented,” according to Alexander Gray, who worked in Trump's first NSC.
Instead the NSC has become its own policymaking power center in the Executive Branch and can been affected by career officials (and support staff) who have burrowed in from earlier administrations. Critics say the career officials can serve as very effective bureaucratic obstacles, especially when they carry conflicting political and foreign policy agendas into the new administration.
Trump's former National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien (Trump had four NSAs in his first term) published an op-ed with Gray last month, which he told NPR was a catalyst for the purge. “We believe the NSC policy staff could be streamlined to 60 people, the same number of NSC staffers that President Dwight D. Eisenhower employed," they wrote. It would seem they are well on their way, and with one less former Israeli government official.
The government of Israel has hired a new conservative-aligned firm, Clock Tower X LLC, to create media for Gen Z audiences in a contract worth $6 million. At least 80 percent of content Clock Tower produces will be “tailored to Gen Z audiences across platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, podcasts, and other relevant digital and broadcast outlets” with a minimum goal of 50 million impressions per month.
Clock Tower will even deploy “websites and content to deliver GPT framing results on GPT conversations.” In other words, Clock Tower will create new websites to influence how AI GPT models such as ChatGPT, which are trained on vast amounts of data from every corner of the internet, frame topics and respond to them — all on behalf of Israel.
As part of this work, the firm will also use search engine optimization software MarketBrew AI, a predictive AI platform that helps clients adapt to algorithms and promote their work on search engines like Google and Bing, to “improve the visibility and ranking of relevant narratives.”
Clock Tower will integrate its pro-Israel messaging into Salem Media Network properties, a conservative Christian media group that boasts a vast radio network and produces high-profile shows such as the Hugh Hewitt Show, the Larry Elder Show, and the Right View with Lara Trump. In April, the conservative media network announced Donald Trump Jr. and Lara Trump as significant stakeholders in the company. Salem Media Network did not respond to a question clarifying whether it would be compensated by Clock Tower for promoting messages on behalf of Israel, or how these messages would be integrated.
Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, the adviser who hired the controversial microtargeting firm Cambridge Analytica during Trump’s 2016 campaign, is at the center of the Israeli government’s new deal. Clock Tower is led by Parscale — who is also the new chief strategy officer for the Salem Media Group.
In its contract, Clock Tower does not reveal much about what kinds of messaging will be promoted on behalf of Israel. According to its filing under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Clock Tower was hired to help “execute a nationwide campaign in the United States to combat antisemitism.”
The firm’s point-person is Eran Shayovich, the chief of staff at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to Shayovich’s Linkedin profile, he is leading a campaign called “project 545” which aims to “amplify Israel’s strategic communication and public diplomacy efforts.”
Clock Tower’s work will be targeting a sector of the American populace that has broken sharply from its support for Israel. A July Gallup poll found that only 9% of Americans aged 18-34 support Israel’s military action in Gaza. Other polls show Israel’s favorability falling more generally among the American public.
Clock Tower will also complete an “initial cultural, demographic, and sentiment research report” for Israel within 30 days. Another American firm, Stagwell Global, recently conducted a similar survey for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. While the findings were far more favorable to Israel than other surveys, the poll, which was leaked to Drop Site, still found that a 47% of Americans believed that Israel is committing genocide.
In a meeting with pro-Israel influencers on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained that social media is the most important weapon Israel has at its disposal. “We’re going to have to use the tools of battle, the weapons change over time,” he said. “You can’t fight today with swords, that doesn’t work very well…the most important ones are the social media.”
Netanyahu even touted the purchase of Tik Tok as a group of investors are making a play to buy the company. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who is the single biggest private donor to the Israeli Defense Forces, is poised to play a large role in the deal. “I hope it goes through, it could be consequential,” said Netanyahu.
Clock Tower is conducting the work for Havas Media Network, an international media company that is working for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs via the Israeli Government Advertising Agency. Clock Tower is not the only American firm Havas has subcontracted as part of its work. Earlier this month, Sludge reported that Havas had hired Democratic-aligned public relations firm SKDKnickerbocker on a $600,000 contract to run a bot farm promoting pro-Israel narratives on social media.
SKDK’s work ended just as Clock Tower’s is beginning. Clock Tower drafted a contract on August 27, two days before SKDK deregistered its work for Israel. In a statement to Politico, a spokesperson for SKDK declined to explain why the firm ended its work for Israel, simply stating that the work “had run its course.”
SKDK, Havas, and an associate of Clock Tower did not respond to requests for comment on this article.
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Top photo credit: CHISINAU, MOLDOVA SEPTEMBER 28, 2025: Moldovan President Maia Sandu addresses the media outside Petru Rares Theoretical High School in Chisinau after casting her vote in the 2025 parliamentary election in Chisinau (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto)NO USE FRANCE
CHISINAU, Moldova – President Maia Sandu’s ruling Party of Action and Solidary (PAS) was able to just narrowly hang on to its majority in Moldova’s parliamentary election on Sunday, widely considered the most consequential vote since the former Soviet republic gained independence over 30 years ago.
PAS secured just over 50% of the vote, while its closest competitor, the Patriotic Bloc, gathered around 25%. Three other political groupings entered parliament for the first time.
Since a snap parliamentary vote in 2021, PAS has governed the country with a clear majority in the 101 seat legislature. While PAS will continue to hold a majority in parliament, its margin will be narrower and the number of groupings in the unicameral chamber will be greater. The new makeup of the Moldovan parliament is likely to have serious implications for the future of the Moldovan state and its people, the Transnistrian conflict, the Ukraine War, and European security more broadly.
Over the last several months these elections have taken on a significant international dimension. President Sandu has stressed — especially to Westernaudiences, but also to her own population — the importance of the vote for the future of Moldova and European security writ large. With Russiareportedly influencing the election through disinformation campaigns and illicit financing, the concern by many in Brussels and Washington was that absent a clear victory for pro-European parties Moldova may follow the path of intransigent Georgia.
For its part, the Moldovan opposition has criticized the government for banning, on the eve of elections, several ostensibly “pro-Russian” parties from competing, citing alleged illegal financing and voter bribery. In addition, the government reduced the number of polling stations available for Moldovan citizens living in the breakaway Transnistria region while somewhat complicating their access to those stations that were opened.
Amidst widespread disinformation by all sides, these moves and others have the unfortunate result of calling into question the government’s commitment to democratic standards, both in the eyes of international observers and the Moldovan population.
What is far too often lacking from Western press and expert reports, however, are the economic realities and challenges confronting Moldovans. For Moldovan voters, corruption and socio-economic issues have remained front and center, even while international security concerns continue to be significant in the context of the ongoing Ukraine War.
Indeed, the country and its population are acutely aware of the regional security situation, having taken in the largest number of Ukrainian refugees per capita. Nevertheless, as one of the poorest countries in Europe, energy insecurity and economic challenges continue to roam large in the minds of most Moldovans. Addressing these challenges, therefore, must be a central focus of any Moldovan government that hopes to maintain the public’s trust and support, not just the attention of Western capitals and the press.
Moldova is seen as strategically important due to its location, wedged between co-ethnic Romania (a NATO and EU member-state) and embattled Ukraine, its oscillating domestic political disposition, and the “frozen” Transnistrian conflict — the result of which the country remains divided and with a small Russian military presence on the left bank of the Dniester River.
As a so-called in-between state, Moldova has tragically become a geopolitical prize to be won as tensions have heightened between Russia and the West, especially following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. This dynamic has influenced both Chisinau’s domestic politics and international relations, in part exacerbating the internal dynamics of an already polarized society.
Domestic polarization was clearly on display during last year’s presidential election which included a referendum on adding the country’s EU aspiration into the constitution. The pro-EU incumbent, Sandu, was forced into a second-round run-off—which she ultimately won by a 10-point margin—after failing to secure a majority in the initial vote as her challenger, former prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo, surprised many with his electoral success. The EU referendum passed by the skin of its teeth, with less than 51% support.
Before last year’s vote, almost all polls had shown a comfortable margin of victory for Sandu and the referendum. In the end, it was the Moldovan diaspora in Europe that played a critical role in pushing the constitutional referendum through and securing Sandu’s reelection.
While the Moldovan government and its European supporters pointed to extensive Russian-backed interference, Moscow highlighted that only 10,000 ballots were made available at just two polling stations for the tens of thousands of Moldovans in Russia, in stark contrast to those available for the diaspora living in Europe. This time around 301 polling stations were opened abroad (70 more than last year’s presidential vote), most of which were in Europe and North America. Once again, only two were opened in Russia, compared with 17 just a few years ago.
Under PAS and President Sandu, Moldova has succeeded in advancing its EU aspirations. Notably, Chisinau obtained candidate status in June 2022 and began formal accession negotiations in 2024. Marta Kos, the EU’s Commissioner for Enlargement, only recently noted that Moldova may complete accession negotiations by 2028 — granted the country continues on its pro-European course.
For PAS, EU membership and European backing have become a cause célèbre, in part utilized to gloss over challenges on the domestic front. In several other in-between states, similar political rhetoric presenting a binary geopolitical choice between either unity with the West or domination by Russia is commonplace, and likewise contributes to increased domestic division.
Georgia’s local elections next week and Armenia’s parliamentary vote next June are also expected to be closely monitored in Washington, Brussels, and Moscow as the West-Russia rivalry continues to sour international relations and destabilize domestic politics throughout Eurasia. This continuing zero-sum contest over in-between states ultimately produces greater instability, limits development opportunities, and contributes to a further deterioration of West-Russia relations — outcomes any sensible American strategy ought to avoid.
Breaking out of this paradigm will not be easy, but it will be essential to Washington’s longer-term goals of deeper engagement in East Asia and greater European leadership across the continent.
Indeed, any genuine resolution to the Ukraine war will require a broader discussion on European security, economic interconnectedness, and the role of the in-between states themselves. As long as that war continues unabated, polarization, destabilization, and lingering uncertainty will grow across the entire region. Therefore, a sensible resolution to the Ukraine war can only be hoped for sooner rather than later, not least for Moldova.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement upon arrival at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, on January 30, 2023. RONALDO SCHEMIDT/Pool via REUTERS
A human rights organization is demanding answers about why the Center for American Progress — an influential center left think tank — awarded a board seat to former Secretary of State Antony Blinken despite his alleged complicity in war crimes in Gaza, according to an open letter shared exclusively with Responsible Statecraft.
The letter, drafted by DAWN, accuses Blinken of providing Israel with “essential military, political and public support to ensure it could continue its atrocities” in Gaza. “We believe that Mr. Blinken is not an appropriate choice to serve as a board member of an organization that aims to ‘promote peace and shared global prosperity’ in light of his well-documented role in aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes,” the letter says.
Raed Jarrar, DAWN’s advocacy director, said Blinken’s appointment “damages the reputation” of the Center for American Progress (CAP). “It's truly shocking for a non-profit in Washington DC to place someone like Blinken, with his shameful record, on their board of directors,” Jarrar told Responsible Statecraft.
CAP has yet to respond to the letter, which DAWN sent last Monday. CAP did not respond to a request for comment from Responsible Statecraft.
The letter comes a month after the organization quietly added Blinken to its board, sparking anger on the left. The battle over Blinken’s appointment — and CAP’s decision to make the appointment without any sort of public statement — highlights the deep divide among Democratic elites about how to move forward from the Biden administration’s role in Israel’s war in Gaza.
Some former Biden administration officials have attempted to distance themselves from the pro-Israel policies advanced during their tenure in government. Just this week, Jon Finer and Philip Gordon, both of whom held senior national security positions under President Biden, called on President Trump to restrict weapons transfers to Israel. “Maintaining unconditional U.S. military support while Israel pursues the unachievable goal of ‘total victory’ is simply a recipe for further conflict and suffering,” Finer and Gordon wrote.
But Blinken has stood by Biden’s approach to the war in Gaza. In fact, he’s even chided pro-ceasefire activists for focusing their frustrations toward Israel. “I wish that those who, understandably, have been moved and motivated by everything that’s happened since October 7, if they’d spent maybe just 10% of their time [...] demanding Hamas put down its arms, give up the hostages, stop what it’s doing, maybe if the world had done that, we’d be in a different place,” Blinken said in July.
Blinken’s appointment accompanies an apparent shift in priorities at CAP. Last year, CAP President Patrick Gaspard slammed Blinken’s decision to certify that Israel was complying with U.S. law surrounding weapons transfers. “It’s hard to believe that the administration sees what’s happening in Gaza yet fails to conclude that Israel has violated the terms for use of American weapons,” Gaspard said. “There is overwhelming evidence that Israeli forces have violated international law through indiscriminate bombing that has killed thousands of civilians.”
But Gaspard has since been replaced by Neera Tanden, a long-time Democratic operative who directed Biden’s domestic policy council. In a prior stint as president of CAP, Tanden faced criticism for working closely with pro-Israel lobbying groups like AIPAC. She also prevented staffers at ThinkProgress, CAP’s influential news and analysis website, from criticizing Israel or even mentioning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to former ThinkProgress staffers. TP subsequently shut down during Tanden’s first tenure as CAP president in 2019. (Note: Ben Armbruster, a former ThinkProgress editor who has publicly criticized Tanden, is the managing editor of Responsible Statecraft.)
It remains to be seen whether Tanden will impose similar restrictions in her second stint as CAP president. So far, CAP staffers have continued to criticize Israel and oppose escalation with Iran. But Blinken’s appointment would seem to indicate that such points of view will lose favor in the influential Democratic-aligned think tank.
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