The chief executive of British Israeli Communications and Research Centre (BICOM) is to step down after three years at the helm of the controversial lobby group.
Dermot Kehoe said he
felt it was time to move on after leading the advocacy group
through two conflicts in Gaza and two general elections in
Israel.
Kehoe’s tenure culminated in a ‘We Believe in Israel’ conference
held in London on March 22, which attracted 1,500 delegates,
including Britain’s Chief Rabbi and government whip Michael Gove
MP.
While Kehoe’s successor is unknown, BICOM remains a contentious
organization, which critics accuse of being a
“sophisticated” pro-Israel lobby group seeking to
“cultivate elite opinion” in the UK.
Kehoe joined BICOM in 2011 and became head of the advocacy group
the following year.
Speaking to the Jewish Chronicle, Kehoe said: “After two Gaza
conflicts, two general elections in Israel and Britain’s biggest
ever pro-Israel conference, now is the time for someone new to
take the organization forward.”
He added that while “the challenges aren’t getting any easier
in Israel advocacy, I’m confident BICOM will continue to meet
them.”
Kehoe will start a new job as external affairs director of the
Health and Social Care Information Centre, a government body
which analyses health data.
His departure renews questions over BICOM, particularly
concerning the extent of its influence in British media and its
connections to UK politics.
Drawing on research by Spinwatch, an “editorial collective of
journalists and academics,” in addition to other sources, RT
seeks to provide a background on BICOM’s shady dealings with the
British establishment.
Born out of war
According to a Spinwatch study by UK-based academics and
journalists, BICOM owes its existence to the Israeli arms trade.
The report, titled ‘The Britain Israel Communications and
Research Centre: Giving peace a chance?’ states that BICOM’s
principal donor is Poju Zabludowicz, the son of Finnish arms
magnet Shlomo Zabludowicz.
A Jewish Pole who narrowly escaped death while interned at
Auschwitz, Shlomo made his fortune selling weapons to repressive
regimes around the world. In the 1980s his son diversified the
business into property.
BICOM itself was born out of a war much closer to Israel, the
Second Intifada.
Days following the mass uprising of Palestinians against Israeli
occupation in 2000, leading UK businessmen raised £250,000 for
the creation of a pro-Israel lobby group. Poju Zabludowicz was
the first major donor.
BICOM and the peace process façade: new @Spinwatch report on an
influential but little known pro-Israel lobby group http://t.co/AiJiy8j5VL
— Spinwatch (@Spinwatch) November
7, 2013
Infiltrating the political elite
While BICOM initially sought to influence public opinion, it
later changed its strategy to “insulate elites from what it
sees as the negative opinions about Israel,” according to
the Spinwatch report.
BICOM donors also directly support sympathetic figures in the
main political parties.
Ruth Smeeth, a Labour parliamentary candidate for Stoke North in
the 2015 general election, is also a former director of public
affairs and campaigns at BICOM.
Her role included strengthening the group’s relations with the
“Foreign Office, party leaders, think-tanks and
academia,” according to Electronic Intifada.
READ MORE: University caves in to Israel lobby, bans ‘legal right
to exist’ forum – organizers
Smeeth attended the Herzliya Conference in Israel as a
representative of BICOM in 2007. The forum often draws the
Israeli president, prime minister and other senior figures in
government.
An American diplomatic cable released by WikiLeeks named Smeeth
as a source of information concerning Prime Minister Gordon
Brown’s government. US diplomats said they should “strictly
protect” her identity.
.
Former BICOM director Lorna Fitzsimons is another example of the
organization’s close links with the Labour Party.
A former Labour MP for Rochdale, Fitzsimons became chief
executive of BICOM after losing her seat in the 2005 election.
BICOM has also cultivated links with the Conservative Party. The
lobby group’s former public affairs manager was previously deputy
director of Conservative Friends of Israel and also worked for
the Zionist Federation.
Also at BICOM’s “@WeBelieveIsrael” –
West Bank settler Itamar Marcus who thinks the Palestinian
population is “poisoned by…terror.” #pt
— Ben White (@benabyad) March
20, 2015
Relations with mainstream media
BICOM seeks to “develop reciprocal working relationship with
journalists” in the UK and has had “some considerable success in
influencing mainstream media,” according to the Spinwatch
report.
The lobbyists initially adopted a pressure-group style approach
to public relations, encouraging the Jewish community to write
letters of complaint to media outlets, which portray Israel in a
negative light.
Under the directorship of Daniel Shek, a former Israeli diplomat,
the organization adopted a strategy similar to most PR firms.
BICOM developed working relationships with journalists,
“providing them with content for news stories and access to
senior sources,” according to Spinwatch.
READ
MORE: Sussex students vote overwhelmingly to boycott Israel goods
over Gaza conflict
In 2006, the Jewish Chronicle reported that “BICOM experts
have been allowed unprecedented access to the BBC to brief the
corporation’s staff on the Middle East.”
BICOM have also organized tours of Israel for journalists,
bloggers and politicians.
According to the website Totally Jewish, a misdirected email sent
by former BICOM chief Fitzsimons in 2011 revealed the extent of
the group’s influence with the BBC.
BICOM was left “embarrassed” by the email, in which
Fitzsimons said: “Throughout the weekend, BICOM staff were in
contact with a whole host of BBC and Sky news desks and
journalists, ensuring that the most objectively favorable line
was taken, and offering talking heads, relevant to the stories
unfolding.”
Fitzsimons also wrote about how she had “briefed Jonathan
Ford, the Financial Times leader writer for his upcoming leading
article” in the paper.
She added: “BICOM has one of BBC News’ key anchors on a
bespoke delegation. When planning her very first trip to the
region, Sophie Long got in touch with BICOM to see if we could
help her out with meetings in the region.
“Sophie is now spending three days of her trip with BICOM
Israel, taking a tour around the Old City, meeting [Israeli
government spokesman] Mark Regev … as well as visiting Ramallah
and Sderot.”