By Sharon Zhang
Copyright truthout
A top PR firm with close ties to the Biden administration has reportedly prematurely cut a contract to run a pro-Israel propaganda program on social media after a report on the agreement caused backlash this week.
On Monday, Sludge reported that the SKDKnickerbocker LLC, or SKDK, signed a contract with Israel in April to “floo[d] the zone” with pro-Israel content. The strategy involves a “bot-based program” to promote the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ messaging on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, LinkedIn, and more, the publication wrote. Social media influencers are also part of the program.
The $600,000 contract also includes efforts specifically involving the news media, like on-camera interview coaching for Israeli civil society spokespeople and “arranging tailored outreach” to “secure favorable coverage” at outlets like The Associated Press, BBC, CNN, and Fox, Sludge found.
The contract is supposed to run from April 2025 to March 2026, and was reportedly initially focused on the Bibas family captives. SKDK registered as a foreign agent for Israel on August 29. However, Politico reported on Tuesday that the group cut the contract early, on August 31, and is de-registering.
“SKDK stopped this work on Aug. 31 and has begun the process of de-registering,” an SKDK spokesperson said in a statement, per Politico. They did not specify the reason why, rather saying that the work “had run its course.” Though it was written in the contract, the spokesperson denied that SKDK had done bot-based work on social media, saying the firm’s “work focused solely on media relations and nothing else.”
A spokesperson for SKDK also told Sludge that the firm ended its work for Israel, and clarified that “this work was done by SKDK in an advocacy division of Stagwell.” Stagwell is the firm’s parent company.
However, SKDK’s other work for pro-Israel groups is unaffected. In February, Semafor reported that SKDK had, for months, been running communications for the 10/7 Project, a “centralized communications operation” for a coalition of pro-Israel groups like AIPAC and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
That work involved “sharing daily memos to journalists pointing out what the group sees as flaws in coverage,” Semafor reported. It also consisted of “keeping tabs” on reporters who did not conform with Israel’s messaging; it specifically singled out The Washington Post’s Louisa Loveluck, for things like “failing at times to note that Gaza’s health ministry is controlled by Hamas” in her reporting.
SKDK has deep roots within the Democratic Party. It was co-founded by longtime Biden adviser Anita Dunn, and its executives include other Party operatives like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-New York) longtime communications director, Justin Goodman. Its parent company, Stagwell, was founded by Mark Penn, President Bill Clinton’s longtime pollster and close advisor.
Former top State Department spokesperson, Vedant Patel, joined the firm as a senior vice president this March. Patel was frequently criticized during President Joe Biden’s term for running cover for Israel as it starved and massacred Palestinians in Gaza.
