Why did the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), the non-profit arm of AIPAC, fund Columbus City Councilmembers’ trips to Israel in 2023, including one nine day trip costing over $17,000? According to a public records request to the City of Columbus, AIEF sponsored trips to Israel for several City Councilmembers prior to October 7, 2023. Below the article there is a PDF table of the cost breakdown including airfare, ground transportation, hotels, food, and other expenses.
AIEF Executive Director Richard Fishman invited Councilmember Lourdes Barroso De Padilla to participate in the Israel Seminar for Florida Leaders and meet with the Israeli Knesset and the Palestinian Authority. The stated intent was to teach participants about: recent peace agreements between Israel and a number of Arab states; current prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians; security threats confronting Israel on its northern and southern borders; and threats posed by a nuclear Iran. These trips also included visits to historic sites in Jerusalem and Galilee. AIEF presents the seminars as educational opportunities that offer an in-depth understanding of Israel and its relationship with the U.S.
AIEF is a 501(c)(3) organization that, according to their website, provides annual grants to AIPAC and funds educational seminars in Israel for members of the United States Congress and other political influentials. AIPAC often uses AIEF as a legal maneuver to get around an American 2007 anti-corruption law that bans lobbyists from paying for trips abroad by politicians.
A recent analysis of thousands of House of Representatives’ travel disclosure records from 2012 through 2023 reveals that Israel is the top destination of privately sponsored foreign travel by U.S. House members and staffers, with AIEF financing most of these trips. AIEF’s slogan is “The Charitable Organization Affiliated with AIPAC” and frequently pays for public officials’ travel to Israel without residents’ awareness. For example, we interviewed one person in Columbus who voiced concern about how deeply ingrained AIPAC is in American Society: “They’re very organized. They’re very powerful. They have people who are on a lot of boards and in high places in companies, in our institutions, public universities. And when you have that level of power you can wage what you want.”
In a 2011 complaint filed with the IRS and the U.S. Justice Department, the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy described AIEF as a “sham corporation” controlled entirely by AIPAC with educational content and audiences selected based on AIPAC lobbying objectives. A resident explained, “this indoctrination, this brainwashing that Americans are exposed to…In my opinion this is something that the government is trying to do with all of our American officials is to say ‘hey keep sending your tax money, keep investing in these [Israel] bonds.’”
Few residents know about these AIEF sponsored trips. The City’s records reveal that Councilmember Lourdes Barroso de Padilla, Council President Shannon Hardin, and Councilmember Shayla Favor attended AIEF funded trips to Israel prior to October 7, 2023. Despite requesting records involving AIEF for all City Council members, we only received detailed documentation of Councilmember Barroso de Padilla’s trip. However, other records refer to Council President Shannon Hardin and Councilmember Shayla Favor as “Columbus AIEF alum” and they attended get-togethers with AIPAC Regional Political Coalition Director, Cecelia Brown. Additional emails between Brown and Hardin’s Legislative Assistant, Linda Capobianco, indicated that Hardin and Favor attended trips to Israel although the details of the trip remain unknown. In a February 7, 2023 email, Capobianco identified Hardin, Favor, and four other influential figures in Columbus law and finance as the “group who went to Israel.”
Public records show a particularly close relationship between AIPAC and Council President Hardin, who hosted an official “AIPAC Connects Event” at his home in June 2023 to “strengthen the U.S. - Israel relationship in our Columbus community.” Below is the email invitation to the event. “It’s really a tough power dynamic and hard to combat” said one resident “[AIPAC] money has gone to candidates who will never speak out against these [Israel’s] humanitarian violations.” Hardin, Favor, and Barroso de Padilla have not responded to requests for comment.
Beyond City Council, County Commissioner Kevin Boyce accompanied his wife Congresswoman Emilia Strong Sykes on an AIEF-sponsored trip to Israel for House Democrats in August 2023. The trip was estimated to cost $14,000 per person, featured an extensive itinerary, and was highly publicised by AIPAC.
Many Columbus residents remain unaware of the ties between local leaders and the Israel lobby, but most know that “Congress is sending billions of dollars to supply weapons, guns, and bombs being dropped on children in Gaza in an arsenal of endless funds” and that “Israel is the only country that has received this much military aid from the U.S.” There have been numerous instances of punishment and intimidation directed towards those who do speak out, including blacklisting student activists, Ohio’s anti-Boycott/Divestment/Sanction law, as well as recent suppression by The Wexner Foundation and Wexner Center.
Still, awareness and action are spreading and Columbus residents are among many across the state pushing for an end to the reinvestment of taxpayer money in Israel bonds by State and County treasuries. The Ohio treasurer now holds $262,500,000.00 in Israel bonds, while Franklin County has $33,000,000.
“It’s very disheartening” said one resident “As a Palestinian living here, I don’t have a choice, I have to pay taxes. But where those taxes go, we can’t control.” Many Columbus residents prefer that their tax money be used to strengthen local communities rather than to support Israel.
Councilmembers Barosso De Padilla and Favor released A Joint Statement on the Humanitarian Crisis in Palestine on social media on November 13, 2023 calling for “an immediate ceasefire.” They highlighted “our city’s rich diversity and the welcoming embrace we extend to immigrants, refugees, and migrants” but noted that “our hearts are heavy as we address the humanitarian crisis in Palestine…More than two million people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are in desperate need of humanitarian aid, facing displacement, injuries, and an escalating death toll.” This statement was released after hundreds of protestors spoke out last October and November against Israel’s bombing after October 7 and months before Columbus City Council adopted a resolution in March 2024 calling for a “sustained and mutual end to hostilities.”
Ohio ethics law states that “an official cannot solicit, accept, or use the authority of her public position to secure anything of value, including travel, meals, or lodging expenses, that could have a “substantial” and “improper” influence upon her performance of her duties.” The Columbus City Council as well as the AIEF sought an ethics approval for the payments for the Israel trips from Zach Klein, Columbus City Attorney. The request was approved: “Applying this general prohibition to the facts and circumstances of the subject seminar, while the value of the trip expenses being provided by AIEF would be considered substantial, because AIEF is not regulated by, interested in matters before, or doing or seeking to do business with the City of Columbus, AIEF would not be considered an improper source for those expenses. Accordingly, it would be permissible under the applicable ethics restrictions for Council Member Barosso de Padilla to participate in this AIEF-sponsored seminar.” Despite the ethics approvals, many argue against this “AIPAC loophole” that allows a 501(c)(3) organization such as AIEF to circumvent ethics laws.
In summary, the answer to our initial question – Why did the AIEF fund Columbus City Councilmembers’ nine day trips to Israel costing over $17,000? – remains unclear. The question and the answer are important to residents in Columbus who oppose the United States’ financial contributions to Israel that have killed tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza. There must be some reason that Israel spends so much money on “educational trips.” One resident concluded “If you think about the refugee crisis or you think about people who complain about the influx of refugees, it’s because of things that happen overseas caused by governments.”
