Israel has hired a California-based conservative Christian marketing firm to run a foreign influence operation targeting Christians in four states, including Colorado. First reported by The Times of Israel, federal filings reveal that Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has retained the firm Show Faith by Works to “target and distribute pro-lsrael information online and through targeted geofencing and digital online tools.”
Geofencing is a type of location-based marketing and advertising. A mobile app or software uses the Global Positioning System, radio frequency identification, Wi-Fi or cellular data to define a virtual geographical boundary and trigger a targeted marketing action when a device enters or exits that boundary. This boundary is known as a geofence.
According to documents filed pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Show Faith by Works will “Geofence the actual boundaries of every Major church in California, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado and all Christian Colleges during worship times. Track attendees and continue to target with ads.”
The ads will be used to influence congregations. According to a slide presentation included in the filing, the campaign will “combat low American Evangelical Christian approval of the Nation of Israel, use biblical arguments to highlight the importance of Israel and the Jewish people to Christians, educate Christians on the historical importance of Israel and its significance in the region, increase awareness of Palestinian ties to Hamas and support for terrorism within Evangelical populations, [and] counter new and evolving pro-Palestinian messaging as the global narrative shifts.”
This foreign influence operation comes as the death toll from Israel’s war with Palestine has surpassed 67,000 since Oct. 7, 2023. In August, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that more than half a million people in Gaza are trapped in famine, marked by widespread starvation, destitution and preventable deaths.
“A ceasefire is an absolute and moral imperative now,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in an Aug. 22 news release. “The world has waited too long, watching tragic and unnecessary deaths mount from this man-made famine. Widespread malnutrition means that even common and usually mild diseases like diarrhea are becoming fatal, especially for children. The health system, run by hungry and exhausted health workers, cannot cope. Gaza must be urgently supplied with food and medicines to save lives and begin the process of reversing malnutrition. Hospitals must be protected so that they can continue treating patients. Aid blockages must end, and peace must be restored, so that healing can begin.”
Last week, Israeli forces intercepted a coalition of more than 40 vessels crewed by 437 activists, parliamentarians and lawyers who were part of the Global Sumud flotilla, carrying humanitarian aid whose goal was to breach Israel’s 16-year maritime blockade of Gaza. Among those arrested was environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who has told Swedish officials she is being subjected to harsh treatment in Israeli custody.
Show Faith by Works plans to “use a combination of personal and professional outreach to the Christian Community, combined with digital targeting and social media outreach to increase positive associations with the Nation of Israel while linking the Palestinian population with extremist factions.”
The group has targeted 32 megachurches in Colorado, including Flatirons Community Church in Lafayette, with a congregation of 15,495, and New Life Church in Colorado Springs, with a congregation of 12,000. Other notable churches targeted by Show Faith by Works’ geofencing campaign include Church for All Nations, the Andrew Wommack-aligned Colorado Springs Church whose Culture Impact Team leader, Ken Davis, now serves as the chair of the El Paso County Republican Party, and Golden’s Red Rocks Church.
The plan budgets $100,000 for a Colorado staff of four: a director and deputy, as well as small stipends for students on two Christian college campuses, who will “assist with getting contact information for on-campus clubs, table events, assist in traveling team deployments [and] push for campus pledge-drives.”
A breakdown of the Evangelical denominations participating in Show Faith by Works campaign across the four states shows predominantly nondenominational churches and Southern Baptist Convention, the largest protestant denomination in the U.S.
In addition to the geofencing ad campaign, the firm plans to recruit pastors to write op-eds and distribute “Pastoral Resource Packages” by mail, hire social media influencers and produce video content, and to tour a portable museum featuring tents, virtual reality headsets and kiosks designed to immerse audiences in narratives of Israel’s conflict with Hamas for a program that will be called the “October 7th Experience.”
The proposal also lists potential Christian celebrities who may be willing to carry its message. Among the list of professional athletes is former Denver Bronco Tim Tebow.
