Mega Group is a private club of very wealthy and influential Jewish American political donors. The group was founded in 1991 by Leslie Wexner and Charles Bronfman. The purpose of the group was to collectively contribute to various Israeli and Jewish causes. Over the years, Mega Group has donated tens of millions of dollars to pro-Israel groups and has influenced American foreign policy. However, the organization operates in secrecy and its membership, activities and headquarters location are not publicly known.
Quick Answers
– Mega Group does not have an official headquarters. As a private, informal organization, it does not maintain a central office.
– The group is run by a small steering committee of members who coordinate activities and organize two annual retreats. These retreats likely take place at the homes or hotels owned by members.
– Key members include billionaires such as Leslie Wexner (L Brands), Charles Bronfman (Seagrams), Mortimer Zuckerman (Boston Properties), hedge fund managers like Michael Steinhardt, and media moguls like Edgar Bronfman Sr. (Seagrams) and Leonard Abramson (U.S. Healthcare).
– While the members themselves are based across North America, the group’s influence extends to Washington D.C. and foreign capitals like Jerusalem through their political donations and advocacy work.
The Origins of Mega Group
Mega Group was founded in 1991 by Wexner and Bronfman. The two men decided to create a new, more formalized club of like-minded, pro-Israel billionaires after they stepped down from the leadership of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. This umbrella group coordinates policy for over 50 major U.S. Jewish organizations.
Wexner and Bronfman envisioned Mega Group as a more exclusive, intimate and targeted fundraising group. They aimed to lead the group away from the consensus-based approach of the Conference towards unambiguous support for hawkish policies in Israel. The group’s ideology aligned with the Likud party which came to power in 1977.
The inaugural Mega Group meeting was hosted by Wexner in New York City in 1991. Fellow billionaires like Michael Steinhardt and Max Fisher were in attendance. From the start, privacy and exclusivity were priorities. Meetings were secretive and membership remains undisclosed to this day.
Key Members
Due to the privacy around Mega Group, its membership list is not public. However, some key individuals are known to be affiliated based on investigative reporting and tax filings of associated foundations. These core members include:
Leslie Wexner – The billionaire founder of L Brands (formerly Limited Brands) which owns Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works. Wexner has been a prominent funder of pro-Israel causes for decades. He is considered a founding father of Mega Group.
Charles Bronfman – Billionaire heir to the Seagram liquor fortune and former co-chairman of Seagram. He spearheaded efforts to birth the birthright Israel program which sends young Jews on free trips to Israel.
Edgar Bronfman – Former chairman of Seagrams, former president of the World Jewish Congress, and father of Edgar Bronfman Jr who led Seagram’s acquisition by Vivendi. Bronfman Sr. is credited with working to shape Mega Group’s agenda.
Michael Steinhardt – Wall Street investor and hedge fund manager who made his fortune trading. He has funded numerous foundations that back Jewish causes including Birthright Israel.
Lenard Abramson – Founder of U.S. Healthcare and Jewish philanthropic foundation NMAJH. He has been involved with Mega Group for many years through philanthropic initiatives.
Activities and Objectives
Mega Group coordinates and funds activities focused on advancing far-right policies in Israel and reversing perceived anti-Israel trends in America. Their key initiatives have included:
– Raising tens of millions for the United Jewish Israel Appeal. This fundraising arm of the Jewish Agency favors Jewish settlement expansion in Palestine.
– Generating seed money for the Foundation for the Defense of the Democracies. This hawkish think tank promotes confrontation with Arab nations and militant groups. It was a major cheerleader for the invasion of Iraq.
– Providing initial funding for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. This influential think tank has an Israel-centric view of Middle East politics.
– Sponsoring trips to Israel for non-Jewish opinion makers and leaders. These lavish first-class trips aim to create pro-Israel sympathy through propaganda.
– Financing research at the Shalem Center. This right-wing think tank produces reports that align with Likud Party policies.
– Supporting pressure against Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories through partnerships with hawkish groups like the Zionist Organization for America.
– Producing media campaigns that attack and try to control anti-occupation Jewish voices. For example, Mega Group funded The David Project which targets professor who criticize Israel.
Relationships With Israeli Politicians
Mega Group members have very close ties to right-wing Israeli politicians from the Likud party:
Benjamin Netanyahu – Israel’s former and now current Prime Minister has attended Mega Group events many times over the years and is aligned ideologically with the group. Members like Wexner have funded Netanyahu’s political campaigns.
Ehud Barak – The former Prime Minister of Israel (1999-2001) spoke at a Mega Group retreat in the early 2000s. He pressed for military confrontation with Palestinians.
Ariel Sharon – Before becoming Prime Minister (2001-2006), Sharon attended Mega Group retreats in the 1990s as opposition leader when Labor was in power. The retreat helped bolster his militaristic plans.
This access to Israeli politicians has made the Mega Group an influential broker of right-wing policy ideas between Jerusalem and Washington. Their alignment with the Israeli far-right shapes their hawkish diaspora advocacy.
Washington Lobbying Efforts
In addition to funding pro-occupation groups in Israel, Mega Group pours tens of millions into influencing US policy towards Israel and the Middle East. They lobby politicians from both parties to reject compromises with Palestinians and take confrontational postures.
Some of the ways they influence DC politics include:
– Making large donations to pro-Israel PACs like NORPAC. These hawkish PACs contributed $17 million to campaigns in 2018.
– Generating donations for the campaigns of Israel ally politicians like Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz and others.
– Sponsoring privately funded trips for Congresspeople to travel to Israel and attend propaganda conferences. These lavish trips shape perceptions.
– Financing front groups that run deceptive Facebook ads targeting wavering politicians. For example, a Mega-funded group spent over $1.5 million on anti-Iran ads on Facebook.
– Hosting off-the-record salons for DC influencers and policymakers where anti-Palestinian materials are presented unchallenged.
– Operating as an influential pressure bloc during Democratic primaries to damage progressive candidates who want a more balanced policy.
Criticism
Mega Group has faced criticism over the years for the following reasons:
– Lack of transparency – The group intentionally hides its activities from public scrutiny and has secretive meetings. It does not disclose its membership list. This opacity is at odds with their significant influence.
– Partisan bias – The group lobbies aggressively on behalf of Likud party priorities rather than bipartisan Israeli interests. This right-wing bias polarizes American politics related to Israel.
– Propaganda tactics – Mega uses McCarthyite methods to smear and constrain independent voices critical of Israel’s human rights abuses as being “anti-Israel.” This stifles healthy policy debate.
– Dual loyalty concerns – The singular focus on hardline Israeli interests over American interests raises dual loyalty questions about whether the group’s activities serve US foreign policy interests.
– Futile policies – The group’s hawkish stances have not advanced the peace process with Palestinians. Its goal of irreversible massive settlements in the occupied territories prevent a negotiated two-state resolution.
Efforts to Influence 2020 Democratic Primary
Leading up to the contentious 2020 Democratic primary, Mega Group donors poured money into groups that worked to counter the campaigns of progressive candidates like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who advocated a more balanced US policy towards Israel.
For example, Michael Bloomberg received Mega Group backing. In turn, he donated $250,000 to Democratic Majority for Israel, a Mega-linked Super PAC that ran attack ads against Sanders. This anti-progressive stance during the primary signaled Mega Group’s aggressive efforts to influence the Democratic party.
Other Mega-tied groups like the Pro-Israel America PAC and the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC spent tens of millions challenging left-leaning candidates and targeting politicians who voiced support for Palestinian rights like Betty McCollum.
This Mega Group funding blitz aimed to weaken voices of dissent within the Democratic party and ensure unconditional support for Israel’s far-right government. It intentionally polarized the Israel debate and damaged the party’s unity.
Efforts to Control Narrative and Media Coverage
In addition to political lobbying, Mega Group funds media watchdog groups that enact campaigns to control public narratives about Israel and intimidate journalists and publishers who are critical of Israel’s human rights abuses.
Some examples include:
– Pressuring media outlets like the New York Times to avoid using terms like “occupation”. Mega-funded groups monitor and attack any perceived anti-Israel bias.
– Deploying bots and trolls on social media to swarm and harass Palestinian perspectives or criticism of Israeli policy. This aims to censor dissent.
– Buying up strategic media properties like The New Republic magazine which received Mega Group money and subsequently fired its editors who were critical of Israel.
– Attempting to cancel book deals for authors like Peter Beinart who question Israeli policy. Mega-funded groups pressure publishers.
– Lobbying Hollywood to control scripts and productions involving Israel. For example, an Israeli government official influenced Netflix to change Fauda.
While Mega Group seeks to police narratives on Israel, some progressive Jewish voices are pushing back against this censorship through activism and high-quality reporting.
Connection Between Mega Group and Jeffrey Epstein
Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who was indicted for sex trafficking minors, had ties to some Mega Group members which has led to speculation about those connections.
The key known links between Epstein and Mega Group include:
– Epstein’s only known client was billionaire Mega Group co-founder Leslie Wexner who was pivotal in building Epstein’s wealth.
– Wexner assigned Epstein power of attorney over his finances despite Epstein having no experience managing money professionally before working for Wexner.
– Epstein often attended Mega Group gatherings as Wexner’s guest in the 1990s and early 2000s.
– Epstein viewed Mega Group co-founder Charles Bronfman as a close friend and was involved with Bronfman’s nephew through the N.Y. real estate industry.
– The Rolex corporation paid $1 million to Epstein at the request of Edgar Bronfman upon Edgar Bronfman exiting Seagram’s. The funds were directed to Epstein through Abigail Wexner, wife of Mega Group co-founder Leslie Wexner.
Given these extensive ties, Mega Group’s dealings with Epstein during the years when his crimes were at their peak remain a topic of intense speculation especially regarding what other members may have known about Epstein’s activities.
Conspiracy Theories Related to Mega Group
Due to the intentionally hidden nature of Mega Group and the influential status of its members, many fringe conspiracy theories have emerged speculating about the organization’s supposed cabal-like influence and objectives. However, these extreme theories remain unproven.
Some samples of the more outlandish Mega Group conspiracies include:
– Wild notions that Mega Group has secretly hijacked control of the U.S. government to serve Israeli interests.
– Baseless claims that the group utilizes blackmail to control politicians based on fabricated tapes from Epstein’s properties.
– Bizarre theories that the group aims to stoke chaos in the Middle East as part of occult objectives or profiteering motives.
– Anti-Semitic delusions that the group represents the tentacles of a supposed Jewish/Zionist octopus covertly manipulating world events.
– QAnon fabrications that Hillary Clinton and other Democrats are involved with satanic rituals at Mega Group gatherings.
In reality, while Mega Group is undoubtedly a potent and hawkish donor collective, there is no sound evidence indicating they wield cabal-like control over entire nations or engage in outlandish illegal activities. Such theories should be viewed very skeptically.
Recent Mega Group Retreat and Priorities
In early 2020, Mega Group members and associates gathered for one of their secretive annual retreats. This two-day event offered clues about the current priorities and strategies of the influential organization.
Based on news reports, the retreat had the following focus areas:
– Raising $75 million for hawkish pro-settlement groups in Israel that work to shape narratives and influence Israeli politics. Netanyahu himself addressed the gathering by video.
– Discussions on how to assist Netanyahu in gaining immunity from multiple corruption indictments he was facing in Israel. This covered political and media tactics.
– Brainstorming ways to assist Netanyahu’s reelection campaign amid Israel’s third round of chaos-inducing elections. He was in a tight race with rival Benny Gantz.
– Devising strategies to smear, silence and politically sideline opponents of Israel’s proposed West Bank annexation plans in both Israel and America.
Given this agenda, Mega Group remains an intensely political operation dedicated to empowering the Israeli far-right in both Israel and America. Critics argue this partisan role contributes to polarization and harms prospects for peace.
Conclusions
In conclusion, while Mega Group does not have a physical headquarters, this obscure billionaires club has had outsized influence over American and Israeli politics for over 30 years as a result of its lavish funding and coordination efforts to advance Likud Party policies.
The group’s decades-long investment in an irreversible settlement project and their silencing of opposition voices while backing Netanyahu’s autocratic rule have cemented a far-right status quo that makes peaceful resolution unlikely.
Stark power imbalances, a permanent occupation and violations of international law have all followed from Mega Group’s disruptive activities blending politics, media propaganda and advocacy. More transparency and balanced policy discourse are urgently needed.