Robert Inlakesh
The administration of U.S.
President Donald Trump—and many of his most prominent right-wing supporters—are
directly linked to some of the most radically pro-war, pro-Israel organizations
in the country. These connections form a sprawling web of lobbying groups, tech
billionaires, and media figures who consistently promote Israeli interests
above those of ordinary Americans.
Space X (formerly Twitter), and Tesla CEO
Elon Musk speaks with a person during a live interview with Ben Shapiro
at the European Jewish Association’s symposium on antisemitism in
Krakow, Poland, Jan. 22, 2024. (Photo | STR | NurPhoto via AP)
Why has the pro-Trump right
suddenly pivoted from branding itself as a bastion of free speech to openly
supporting censorship and state-led crackdowns? This MintPress News
investigation uncovers a donor-driven advocacy network driving that ideological
shift.
THE HOROWITZ CONNECTION
Since the early 2000s, writer and
activist David Horowitz has been at the center of a movement that claimed to
defend free speech while portraying Muslims and leftists as existential threats
to Western civilization. In the aftermath of 9/11, Horowitz called for the
profiling of “Palestinian” and “Islamic” people and infamously stated that “the
Palestinians are Nazis.”
Through the David Horowitz
Freedom Center (DHFC), founded in 1998, he and his donors built a media and
policy network that shaped the careers of nearly every major pro-Trump
conservative figure active today. The Southern Poverty Law Center designated
the DHFC a hate group, and it has received anonymous dark money routed through
Donors Trust, which has also funded white nationalist causes.
Horowitz focused much of his
activism on college campuses, pushing inflammatory anti-Islam and pro-Israel
narratives intended to provoke backlash. He then framed protests against his
appearances as proof that the left and Muslim communities oppose the First
Amendment.
This strategy laid the foundation
for figures like Ben Shapiro, who built his early career on college campus
tours, defending even hate speech as protected expression and popularizing
slogans like “facts don’t care about your feelings.” Shapiro began as a fellow
at the DHFC, and his first book, “Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate
America’s Youth,” was published in 2004.
Shapiro would later become
editor-in-chief of Truth Revolt, a website funded by the David Horowitz Freedom
Center, where his managing editor was Jeremy Boreing. The two would go on to
co-found what is now The Daily Wire. Both also worked with organizations linked
to Israeli intelligence circles before eventually hiring Jordan Peterson.
Although Peterson had previously said little about Israel, upon joining the
Daily Wire he adopted a vocal pro-Israel stance and later met with Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The DHFC has also funded or
aligned with numerous high-profile right-wing figures, including former Trump
chief strategist Steve Bannon, former national security adviser John Bolton,
Pamela Geller, and Dutch politician Geert Wilders. Trump’s current Secretary of
Defense, Pete Hegseth, received $30,000 in speaking fees and honoraria from the
Freedom Center between 2023 and 2024.
Candace Owens, now a high-profile
conservative commentator, was initially recruited by Horowitz, but later came
under attack from his affiliated activists after publicly expressing support
for Palestinian rights.
“I started my career, my
political career, on YouTube making just funny, satirical videos, and I got an
email from David Horowitz inviting me to this conference, and let me just tell
you what a big deal it was for me. I had no connections whatsoever,” Owens once
recalled.
Following Horowitz’s death on
April 29, 2025, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk acknowledged his
influence:
Without
David Horowitz, I’m not sure Turning Point USA would exist. Over 90% of our
earliest major donors were introduced at a David Horowitz event—thanks to his
warm endorsements and generous introductions. His support opened doors that
would have otherwise remained closed.
What Kirk revealed is crucial:
Horowitz operated as a connector within an elite donor class that used his
introductions to finance pro-Israel right-wing media and political
infrastructure.
THE TECH BROS
Elon Musk’s growing alignment
with Israeli policy became publicly visible in 2024, when he forged a surprise
relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu. But his ties to the Freedom Center
ecosystem began earlier. Musk has amplified Freedom Center talking points,
including a study falsely claiming that USAID helped fund the Taliban—a
narrative later used to justify calls to defund the agency.
More consequentially, when SpaceX
sought to raise $750 million in January 2023, the lead investor was the venture
capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, co-founded by Ben Horowitz—David Horowitz’s
son.
Andreessen Horowitz holds
investments in several companies linked to Israeli intelligence and
surveillance, including TOKA, founded by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Barak. Ben Horowitz was also involved in early efforts to organize a pro-Trump
tech elite alliance before stepping back.
SpaceX itself has collaborated
with Israeli weapons firms and state-linked companies such as Elbit Systems,
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and ImageSat International (ISI), helping
launch military satellites.
Another key Freedom Center
financier is Robert Shillman, founder of Cognex Corporation. Shillman and his
family foundation have supported right-wing figures like Laura Loomer,
Bridgette Gabriel, and Project Veritas. He also donates to the Foundation for Defense
of Democracies (FDD), a neoconservative think tank that has played a central
role in pushing for regime change wars in the Middle East.
From 2002 to 2013, Shillman
donated over $2.4 million to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), a
U.S.-based nonprofit that aid to Israeli military personnel.
In 2018, The Guardian revealed
that Shillman funded a fellowship supporting far-right provocateur Tommy
Robinson, who received a salary of about £5,000 a month to work at the Canadian
outlet Rebel Media.
PROPAGANDA AND POLITICS
The Gatestone Institute, another
key node in the network and donor to Tommy Robinson, was founded by Nina
Rosenwald—dubbed by critics as “the sugar mama of Muslim-hate” for her role in
bankrolling anti-Muslim and pro-Israel media initiatives.
Gatestone has supported figures
like Douglas Murray, a British pundit who was recently mocked for making a
bizarre appeal to authority during his appearance on “The Joe Rogan
Experience,” where he called for more airtime for pro-war “experts” to push a pro-Israel
narrative. Murray has described anti-Muslim blogger Robert Spencer as a
“brilliant scholar.” Unsurprisingly, Spencer’s website, Jihad Watch, was long
sponsored by the David Horowitz Freedom Center.
Billionaire hedge fund manager
Bill Ackman also fits into this ecosystem. In 2024, Ackman promoted the Shirion
Collective—a campaign that encouraged doxxing of pro-Palestinian students and
faculty, and has been accused of inciting physical violence and using AI
surveillance tools to suppress dissent.
Ackman and Marc Andreessen were
both appointed as advisors to the Trump administration’s Department of
Government Efficiency (DOGE), a now nearly defunct initiative aimed at federal
reform.
Another element of the broader
advocacy network resurfaced with surprising aggression in late 2023: the
militant group Betar.
Founded nearly a century ago by
fascist Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Betar had long faded into obscurity.
But following Israel’s offensive in Gaza, the group reemerged—mirroring the
tactics of the Jewish Defense League (JDL), which was previously designated a
terrorist organization by U.S. authorities.
Betar activists have revived
street-level intimidation tactics, including threatening prominent scholars and
UN officials with symbolic “pagers”—a reference to a notorious 2024 Israeli
covert operation involving explosive-laden devices that caused mass casualties
in Lebanon.
Human rights observers have
exposed how the group is compiling watchlists of pro-Palestinian academics,
organizers, and public figures, which it presents to Trump-aligned officials as
candidates for future deportation or prosecution.
The group has also openly praised
military operations that resulted in the deaths of civilians, including
children.
Betar’s resurgence has been
widely attributed to Israeli-American public relations executive Ronn
Torossian, a contributor to FrontPage Magazine—an outlet created by the David
Horowitz Freedom Center.
FROM FREE SPEECH TO
AUTHORITARIANISM
From Silicon Valley investors and
right-wing influencers to defense contractors and political operatives, a vast
and interconnected donor class has reshaped the American right in the image of
a hardline pro-Israel agenda. Their messaging recasts Muslims as enemies of the
West, delegitimizes anti-war and pro-Palestinian activism, and presents dissent
as a threat to national security.
This same network, once obsessed
with defending free expression, now embraces censorship, blacklists, and
government surveillance—so long as it targets their ideological opponents.
Editor’s Note | A previous
version of this article incorrectly stated that David Horowitz died on April
29, 2023. The correct date of his death is April 29, 2025.
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