Megamot Shalom

The Forward has obtained Megamot Shalom’s full public file from Israel’s charity registry. It sheds some light on the group, which is controlled largely by English-speaking immigrants to Israel living in Jerusalem, many of them former employees of a well-known Orthodox yeshiva network. Yet the organization remains mysterious. The Forward could not locate one of the group’s board members. Another man listed as a board member said he had never heard of the charity. A third acknowledged he was on the board of the charity, but claimed it had no relationship with Canary Mission. Still, the documents suggest that Megamot Shalom likely operates Canary Mission. In its mission statement approved by the charity registry, it says that it uses digital media to protect the image of the state of Israel against the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, which closely matches Canary Mission’s activities. Its employees include an editor and a social media expert. Jonathan Bash created the group in late 2015, months after Canary Mission went live. The majority of the board members listed in the documents have close ties to Aish HaTorah, a network of yeshivas that focuses on outreach to non-Orthodox Jews. In addition to its religious activities, the network runs pro-Israel advocacy efforts. A spokesman for Aish HaTorah said that he had never heard of Megamot Shalom, noted that many of its board members had not been associated with Aish HaTorah in years, and said that Aish HaTorah had no relationship with Canary Mission. Megamot Shalom is registered as a public benefit corporation, another form of not-for-profit. Under Israeli law, those entities are not required to disclose their donors, and Megamot Shalom has not. As of September 2016, Megamot Shalom’s board consisted of seven people, five of whom the Forward could locate. Bash, who runs Canary Mission, is himself a former student of Aish HaTorah. Press reports say that he is also a former employee of the organization, though his LinkedIn page is no longer available. From 2008 to 2012, Bash served on the board of directors of an American charity now known as Jerusalem U, a pro-Israel advocacy group led by Rabbi Raphael Shore, the former Aish HaTorah employee who in 2005 and 2008 produced the two anti-Muslim documentaries. Another of the men on the Megamot Shalom board, an American-born Jerusalem resident named Jason Aguilar, who was Aish HaTorah’s projects/logistics coordinator from 2004 to 2007, acknowledged that he was on the board of Megamot Shalom, but denied any connection to Canary Mission. Rabbi Tzadok Cable, another director of Megamot Shalom, told the Forward he was not familiar with the organization. Rabbi Efim Svirsky, who led Aish HaTorah’s Russian program for at least a dozen years, is also listed as a Megamot Shalom director. Another board member, Daphne Ann Silverstone, is listed in the organization’s filings as sharing an address with Bash near Aish HaTorah’s headquarters in the Old City of Jerusalem.