Brad Parscale's Firm Ran a $1.5 Million-a-Month Israel Campaign, Then MAGA Influencers Trashed Trump's Iran Ceasefire

Brad Parscale ran Donald Trump's 2016 and 2020 campaigns. Today he runs Clock Tower X, a digital consulting firm that signed a contract last September with global ad agency Havas, acting on behalf of the State of Israel, according to Foreign Agents Registration Act filings reviewed by TIME.

The numbers are big. Israel agreed to pay Clock Tower X $1.5 million a month, according to TIME's review of the filings. The Intercept previously reported, as cited by Middle East Eye, that Parscale's firm was hired for $6 million in September 2025 before signing a follow-on $15 million contract with Havas. Haaretz reported, as relayed by Palestine News Network, that Israel has funneled more than $100 million through Havas-linked channels since 2018 to fund U.S. media campaigns.

Under the deal, Clock Tower X pledged to produce 100 pieces of original content a month, with at least 80% targeted at Gen Z on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and podcasts, per the FARA filing reviewed by TIME. The goal: at least 50 million digital impressions per month. Parscale also promised to influence how AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini describe Israel and the war, according to the filing.

Salem Media and the conservative Christian pipeline

Parscale didn't just build a digital operation from scratch. He's Chief Strategy Officer at Salem Media Network, a conservative Christian broadcaster with more than 200 radio stations and websites, according to Palestine News Network's report on Haaretz's reporting.

The Services Agreement in the FARA filing called for "integration of narrative messaging into Salem Media Network properties and aligned distribution channels," per TIME's review. In plain terms, Parscale's Israel-funded content machine had a built-in pipeline into conservative Christian media, an audience not traditionally the focus of pro-Israel messaging aimed at young people.

That focus makes sense given the numbers. Pew Research Center surveys cited by Palestine News Network show negative views of Israel among American conservatives rose from 42% in 2022 to 53% in 2025, including among Republicans under 50. Among young Democrats, negative views climbed to 71%, up from 62% three years earlier. Support for Israel is eroding across the political spectrum, not just on the left.

The ceasefire backlash

After the U.S. and Iran struck a ceasefire agreement on June 17, a senior U.S. official monitoring social media noticed something odd, according to TIME. Instead of celebrating, prominent MAGA influencers were savaging the deal.

One shared an Israeli op-ed titled "You Could Have Been the Greatest President of All But You Failed." Others posted a video appearing to show Qatar's prime minister snubbing Vice President J.D. Vance, framing it as proof regional powers saw Trump's team as naive. Still others accused Trump of surrendering before eliminating Iran's nuclear program, TIME reported.

The official started saving screenshots and, tracing the posts back, concluded Parscale's operation was at the center of it, according to TIME. An Israeli Foreign Ministry official told TIME that beyond the public antisemitism-fighting mission, there was a strategic goal: keeping young conservatives from turning against Israel. Parscale allegedly sold himself on his Trump campaign credentials and his grip on internet-native political messaging.

Middle East Eye's report adds detail on how the recruitment worked. Parscale used platforms including Campaign Nucleus and Influenceable to recruit conservative influencers, and paid them per post based on engagement. Previous Influenceable campaigns paid a $2,250 base rate plus $1 per 1,000 views up to a two-million-view cap—meaning some influencers could earn up to $4,250 per post, according to Middle East Eye's account of TIME's reporting.

One influencer named in that reporting, Eyal Yakoby, has 300,000 followers on X and has appeared on Fox News, CNN, and The Washington Post. Yakoby told TIME he was never paid to promote views he didn't hold, and says his work is about combating antisemitism, not running political cover for a ceasefire deal.

What's proven, what isn't

It is documented via FARA filings that Clock Tower X was paid by Israel through Havas to run a large-scale influence campaign targeting young conservatives, and that Parscale used his Salem Media role and influencer networks to distribute it. That's on the record.

What remains unproven is whether Parscale or his operation specifically coordinated or directed the wave of anti-ceasefire posts in June. TIME reports a U.S. official's suspicion based on timing, similar language, and tracing tweets back to figures in Parscale's orbit. That's a serious allegation worth investigating, but it remains circumstantial as reported.

A foreign government paying an American firm to run a large-scale public relations campaign is not illegal. Plenty of countries do it. FARA registration exists precisely so foreign-linked lobbying and messaging campaigns are disclosed. Parscale filed. The concern is whether an operation built to boost Israel's image ended up, whether by design or side effect, undermining a sitting president's own foreign policy through his own base.

Middle East Eye's write-up notes that conservative figures like Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon have separately and publicly criticized Israel for pulling the U.S. into Middle East conflicts. This suggests skepticism of Israel policy inside MAGA predates and extends beyond anything Parscale's campaign did or didn't do.

The open question now is whether the White House or congressional committees will look into whether foreign-funded influence operations, even legally disclosed ones, are shaping political speech inside Trump's own coalition. No investigation has been announced. No charges have been filed. Parscale has not denied running the campaign. He has not, in available reporting, addressed the specific allegation that his network amplified anti-ceasefire messaging.