Mysterious 'peace' groups are sending Americans pro-Israel texts

Jessica, a mother in Alabama, received a text on the evening of January 7.

“Hi, this is John with Friends for Peace. We’re gathering views on Israel today and would like to hear yours. Got a moment to chat? Stop2End.”

Jessica wondered if she would regret sharing her views — which she describes as America First and skeptical of the U.S. relationship with Israel — but John was reassuring and offered a “listening ear” to discuss the sensitive topic.

Over the next three days, Jessica and John exchanged messages about Israel. John promoted a pro-Israel narrative, trying to convince Jessica that the U.S.-Israel relationship is about “mutual benefit and shared interests.”

The only problem is that an organization called “Friends for Peace” does not appear to exist, and it’s unlikely that “John” is a real person. Rather than a peace organization, as the name might imply, the texting campaign appears to be led by former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale and his firm Clock Tower X, which is carrying out a $9 million contract with the government of Israel.

After Jessica told John that she gets a lot of her news from X, John responded saying she shouldn’t trust a lot of stories about Gaza. “There are networks of accounts pretending to be Gaza civilians and a lot of the content is fake. Always check your sources before believing anything. Learn more here,” he said. John then sent a YouTube video from an account called “Allies for Peace,” which claimed the narrative of suffering in Gaza was manufactured. “Bombs, starvation, collapsed buildings: all fabricated content…Don’t take every post at face value, check receipts, demand truth.”

Allies for Peace’s YouTube channel was created in late October by a firm called Clock Tower X, founded by Parscale.

And Jessica is not alone. Since November, an unspecified number of Americans have been receiving text messages from unknown numbers claiming to be from organizations called “Friends for Peace” and “Partners in Peace” asking their views on Israel, promoting Israel as a U.S. ally, and pushing links to websites and videos created by Clock Tower X.

Another source was sent a video called “Tunnels” by “Sara from Friends for Peace.” The video, which was also created by Parscale’s firm, features a clip of an episode of the Joe Rogan podcast with British commentator Douglas Murray. In the edited clip, Murray claims that “you go into a hospital [in Gaza] and you know there will be grenades or tunnel entrances building an infrastructure of terror.” Many of the comments on the video claim they were sent the link by the text message campaign. “I got this from a scam text too. Lmao” reads the top comment.

RS could not identify an organization called “Partners in Peace” or “Friends for Peace” that corresponded with the description. During one text conversation, the campaign admitted that they “use different names” for the organization.

Clock Tower X’s contract with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which increased from $6 million to $9 million in December, includes, “Delivery of monthly updated audience segmentation and sentiment analysis, including Gen Z and other key U.S. demographic groups,” which could correspond to the mass texting campaign. As part of the contract, Parscale’s firm is also integrating pro-Israel messaging into Salem Media Network, a conservative media conglomerate that hosts high-profile podcasts such as “The Right View with Lara Trump” and “The Dinesh D-Souza Podcast.”

Parscale is carrying out this work as part of “project 545” an Israeli campaign to “amplify Israel’s strategic communication and public diplomacy efforts.” Eran Shayovich, Parscale’s point of contact in Israel and the chief of staff at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted on Linkedin about the success of the project last month. “A year and two months into a long war, when the image of the State of Israel was at one of its lowest points, and too many attempts to fight on the public diplomacy front had not been particularly successful,” he wrote. “In the past year, we began to fight back seriously.”

“Allies for Peace” uploaded its first video on YouTube — which states at the end that it was “distributed by Clock Tower X LLC on behalf of the state of Israel” — two weeks before the mass texting campaign began, further linking the effort to Parscale’s firm.

Parscale did not respond to a request for comment about his firm’s connections to the mass texting campaign.

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RS documented dozens of similar examples of pro-Israel text messages that came from four separate numbers to Americans across the country, including in California, Florida, Texas, and Wisconsin, sometimes even in Spanish. Chantel, a Christian who holds skeptical views of Israel, was contacted by “Matt” with Partners in Peace. Similar to other examples, Matt asked Chantel where she gets information about what’s happening in Gaza. Chantel told Matt she gets her news from PBS and the Guardian, among other sources, and opened up about how her father’s experience as a veteran shapes her views.

“I find it fascinating and disturbing how Israel tries to paint a picture of their genocidal actions as justified,” Chantel told RS.

Chantel said she wasn’t sure if she was speaking with a bot or a human. Megan Iorio, Senior Counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information, told RS that many of the text messages sent by “Partners in Peace” and “Friends for Peace” could have been generated by a chatbot, but it’s difficult to know since many chatbots convincingly simulate human conversation.

“Some followed the same pattern of summarizing the called party’s message and then pulling from a list of prescripted questions or comments, which could be indicative of a somewhat rudimentary chatbot,”Iorio said. “It’s also possible that there are humans behind the chats, but they may be using a tool to select prescripted messages or to generate responses. Whether it’s a chatbot or a human using a response tool, the chats are clearly automated or prescripted in some way and are not genuine conversations with a person.”

It’s not clear yet how the campaign obtained the phone numbers or why certain Americans have been targeted as part of the campaign. Many of the people contacted, though not all, expressed skepticism about Israel. Iorio explained to RS that the campaign could be buying lists of phone numbers from data brokers. “Data brokers have all sorts of marketing lists that profile and categorize people for various ends,” said Iorio.

All of the phone numbers RS identified as part of the campaign used a “Voice Over IP” (VoIP) system, which allows users to send messages over the internet rather than through carriers. According to a brief published by Georgetown Law’s Institute for Technology Law & Policy, VoIP is frequently used by scammers to send large numbers of texts through online systems.

The mass texting campaign also pushed links to other websites created by Parscale’s firm.

Nate, a resident of Frisco, California, was contacted by “Tom” from Partners in Peace. Before responding to Tom, Nate demanded Tom explain where he gets his sources from. Tom directed Nate to “Allyvia,” another website created by Clock Tower. Allyvia describes itself as a website dedicated to “strengthening the US and Israel Alliance for Security, Prosperity, & Shared Values.” Its pages claim that “missile defense systems, coordinated military training, and the adoption of Israeli security technologies” save lives in both the United States and Israel. Several other recipients of the texts reported also being sent links to Allyvia.

Both the Allyvia website and the Allies for Peace YouTube channel acknowledge on their websites, as is required by law, that they were created by Clock Tower X on behalf of the Israeli government. As reported by journalist Jack Poulson, Parscale’s firm has created at least 11 websites — including Allyvia and Allies for Peace — which range from promoting Israel as a nation of peace to attempting to delegitimize criticism of Israel.

Most of those contacted by the campaign were confused as to who was contacting them and why. “It's important that Americans know by who and why they are being influenced,” said Nate Lachlan, a student in Indiana who was sent a link to an Allies for Peace YouTube video. Lachlan added that he thought he might be messaging an Israeli. In one text conversation reviewed by RS, the campaign acknowledged it is being “supported by Clock Tower X LLC on behalf of the State of Israel.”

By leaving contacted Americans in the dark, Parscale’s firm could be running afoul of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a law aimed at compelling transparency in foreign lobbying in the U.S. A lawyer who specializes in FARA who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter said that if Clock Tower X is behind the messages, it should include a disclaimer known as a “conspicuous statement” that makes clear that the outreach is part of an Israeli lobbying campaign within the contents of the texts.

“The point of the disclosure requirement is that the public wants to know and has a right to know who is contacting them,” they said. They noted that if the Justice Department were to take action, it would most likely be via a letter of inquiry asking them to comply.

Some Americans even thought they were being contacted by the National Collegiate Honors Council (NHCH), which oversees a partnership with the Nobel Peace Center called “Partners in Peace.” A representative at the NCHC explained to RS that they have received an influx of phone calls about the texts, but clarified the texting campaign is not affiliated with them in any way. In mid-December, the senders of the text messages began identifying themselves as part of an organization called “Friends for Peace” instead.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is fighting an “eighth front,” a battle over legitimacy, narratives, and public opinion. Last year, as public opinion towards Israel in the U.S. plummeted, Israel accelerated its influence operations in the U.S., approving a historic budget of $150 million for public diplomacy. In addition to the contract with Clock Tower, Israel hired firms to provide media outreach, oversee a cohort of social media influencers, and conduct outreach to evangelical Christians.