17 mai 2024 - "US billionaires joined Whatsapp group to 'change Israel narrative'" middleeasteye.net 2024, May 17

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US billionaires joined Whatsapp group to 'change Israel narrative'

Business leaders spoke to senior Israeli officials and New York mayor during Columbia encampment, according to Washington Post

American business leaders and billionaires set up a Whatsapp group to shape public opinion on Israel's war in Gaza and urged New York City's mayor to use police to disperse a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University.

The contents of the Whatsapp group were reported by the Washington Post on Thursday.

The group was set up on 12 October, days after Hamas's surprise attack on southern Israel, to "change the narrative" on Israel, including by conveying "the atrocities committed by Hamas... to all Americans".

Among the business leaders in the group were the CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, Dell CEO and founder Michael Dell, and Joshua Kushner, a financier and brother to Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The contents of the chat were supplied to the Washington Post by unnamed people with direct access to it.

Last month, members of the chat, including billionaire Len Blavatnik, held a Zoom call with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, at a time when a pro-Palestinian encampment was taking place at Columbia University in the city.

During the call, attendees spoke about making political donations to Adams, and about how the business leaders could urge Columbia's president and trustees to permit the mayor to send police on campus.

Some members of the chat offered to pay for private investigators to help police during the protests.

According to the Washington Post, a member of the group wrote on the chat that such an offer had been accepted by Adams. New York's police denied using private investigators to manage the protests.

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