unz | A
particularly egregious and also unique example of a state’s economic
policies being manipulated by a dedicated Israeli fifth column in
government is the Virginia Israel Advisory Board. Grant Smith, long a
critic of the VIAB, heads the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRMEP). He has written a new book entitled The Israel Lobby Enters State Government: Rise of the Virginia Israel Advisory Board,
which documents in considerable detail how the conspiracy by powerful
Jews in Virginia to benefit Israel has actually operated, much of it
secretly through special arrangements and deals. He has also had a long interview with Scott Horton of Antiwar.com regarding the book which is well worth listening to.
The
VIAB is unique because it is actually part of the Virginia state
government. It is funded by the Commonwealth of Virginia and is able to
access funds from other government agencies to support Israeli
businesses. It is staffed by Israelis and American Jews drawn from what
has been described as the “Israel advocacy ecosystem” and is
self-administered, appointing its own members and officers. While there
are many Israel business promotion entities active in the United States,
only Virginia has such a group actually sitting within the government
itself, ready to make secret preferential agreements, to arrange special
concessions on taxes and to establish start-up subsidies for Israeli
businesses. Israeli business projects have been, as a result, regularly
funded using Virginia state resources with little accountability. Bear
in mind that this agency exists not to promote Virginia businesses but
rather to give an advantage to Israeli businesses, some of which might
even be competing with existing Virginia companies and putting local
people out of work.
Virginia
already runs an estimated $500 million trade deficit with Israel due to
the federal Free Trade Agreement and the promotion of Israeli
businesses in the state, which repatriate their profits to Israel, adds
considerably to that sum. Smith reports how
VIAB is not just an economic mechanism. Its charter states that it was
“created to foster closer economic integration between the United States
and Israel while supporting the Israeli government’s policy agenda.”
Smith also has observed that “VIAB is a pilot for how Israel can quietly
obtain taxpayer funding and official status for networked entities that
advance Israel from within key state governments.”
