DES MOINES — A company run by Brad Parscale was hired by the Israeli government to promote pro-Israel views on a major conservative media network. Parscale’s firm, Clock Tower X, received over $15 million from Havas Media Network on behalf of the Israeli state, according to a Foreign Agents Registration Act filing.
Israel initially hired Clock Tower X in September with a $6 million contract. Parscale directed $6 million of those funds to SparkFire Technologies, which uses an AI service called the flywheel to send personalized text messages and analyze conversations. SparkFire’s bot texts about Israel frequently include links to pro-Israel websites and videos created by Parscale, according to screenshots shared with the Intercept and Responsible Statecraft. Parscale’s pro-Israel websites include a legal disclaimer stating they were created on behalf of the Israeli government.
Parscale also directed over $500,000 to Salem Media Representatives, a subsidiary of Salem Media Group, for advertisements. Parscale serves as chief strategy officer for Salem Media Group. Ashley Evdokimo, who works with Parscale at Campaign Nucleus, is Salem Media’s vice president for communications, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Portman Road Strategies, run by Mike Shields, received just under $5 million from Parscale as part of the Israeli government contract, according to Virginia state records. Fourteen of the 18 team members at Clock Tower X are staffers at Convergence Media, a firm led by Shields. Shields is a longtime GOP strategist and former chief of staff for the Republican National Committee. He was also a strategist for former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and has worked as a CNN commentator.
During the first Trump administration, Shields and Parscale frequently recommended each other’s services to GOP campaigns. Parscale convinced GOP campaigns, including Ron DeSantis’s, to hire Shields’s Convergence Media. Brad Parscale was the campaign manager for President Donald Trump's first re-election campaign.
Jackson Parker shares an Ohio office with several other Parscale companies working on the Israel project. A Jackson Parker job listing states the organization is focused on combating anti-Semitism and strengthening public understanding of Israel as America’s closest ally in the Middle East.