ICC has links to Israeli intelligence and AIPAC.[1] It gathers information on pro-Palestinian students and groups in the US, including through the use of student informants in Jewish and pro-Israel student organizations, to pass on to the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs.[1] ICC's chief executive officer is Jacob Baime, a former national field director for AIPAC; he has held that role since 2013.[1][2][3]
History
ICC coordinates groups and students to respond to perceived anti-Israel activism. [4]
The ICC collects and publishes data on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. It publishes an annual campus trends report on this topic.[5] According to promotional material distributed to potential donors ICC monitors Jewish student groups who disagree with International Hillel's policy of non-cooperation or suppression of opinions critical of Israel.[6]
In 2016, ICC campaigned against Palestinian-American poet Remi Kanazi by secretly funding Facebook pages that appeared under the names of fake student organizations.[7] Asked in 2018 about the pages, Facebook removed them for violating their "policies against misrepresentation".[7][8]
In November 2018, undercover footage from the censored Al Jazeera Documentary “The Lobby USA” revealed extensive conversations between ICC executives and Al Jazeera's undercover reporter.[9] An ICC executive admits the organization “coordinates” and “communicates” with Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs.[10][11][12] The footage also revealed the ICC includes the Ministry of Strategic Affairs on the organizations “operations and intelligence brief.” Despite the admission that Israel on Campus Coalition coordinates with the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, an Israeli government ministry, records show the ICC is not registered under the Foreign Agent Registration Act.[13][14]
Al Jazeera’s undercover investigation revealed further evidence of surveillance and smear campaigns conducted by the Israel on Campus Coalition.[10][11][9] An executive outlines in the undercover footage the organization’s intelligence gathering and surveillance capabilities which the organization claims are directed towards pro-Palestine and BDS advocates. Executives describe the organization's surveillance efforts as a method of “psychological warfare.”[10] The film ultimately reveals the ICC coordinates closely with and may operate Canary Mission.[9][15] The organization has previously received criticism from progressive Jewish student organization Open Hillel, after the ICC recognized the Canary Mission blacklist "for deterring BDS activism and causing students to drop their support for pro-Palestine groups out of fear of repercussions.”[16]
In November 2023, it was circulated online that the ICC paid thousands of pro-Israel college students, up to $250 per individual to attend the November 14, 2023 March for Israel rally in Washington D.C., funded through its microgrant reimbursement program, which was aimed at encouraging turnout at initiatives hosted by the pro-Israel organizations.[17][18][19]
The Nation noted the ICC's links to both Israeli intelligence and AIPAC.[1] The ICC's main activity was outlined as gathering information on pro-Palestinian students and groups in the US, including through the use of student informants in Jewish and pro-Israel student organizations, to pass on to the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs.[1]
^Josh Nathan-Kazis (September 25, 2018). "Campus Pro-Israel Group 'Monitored' Progressive Jewish Students". The Forward. Retrieved September 25, 2018. The monitoring of Open Hillel adds to an emerging picture of how the ICC has quietly used its $9 million budget, supplied by major Jewish donors like Lynn Schusterman, to discretely build a sophisticated political intelligence operation on U.S. campuses
