The Israeli government is running advertisements on the podcast hosted by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. The ads belong to a $7 million “I am Israel” campaign that began in June. The effort seeks to encourage Christians to visit Israel and view biblical sites in person.
According to Responsible Statecraft, iHeartMedia has syndicated Cruz’s show, Verdict with Ted Cruz, since 2022. Lobbying rules prevent the company from paying the senator directly for advertising revenue. Under a licensing agreement, iHeartMedia instead donates money tied to the show’s advertising sales to the Truth and Courage PAC.
That super PAC works to re-elect Cruz to the Senate. Federal Election Commission filings show the company has given the PAC at least $1,738,000 in digital revenue since 2023. Watchdog groups filed a complaint with the FEC claiming Cruz broke laws that ban candidates from receiving corporate donations.
Campaign finance expert says court rulings allow foreign funds to reach outside groups that back candidates
The commission ruled in Cruz’s favor. It found no information that Cruz solicited, directed, received, transferred, or spent the funds iHeart paid to the PAC. Cruz’s role was limited to hosting the podcast, the FEC said, and he does not appear to have been involved in iHeart’s decision to pay the PAC.
The Israeli government-funded ads appear to operate in a similar gray area of the law. Candidates and PACs are banned from receiving any funding directly or indirectly from foreign nationals, according to the FEC. Cruz would violate campaign finance rules only if Israel specifically directed its contribution to the PAC, said Craig Holman, a campaign finance expert and ethics lobbyist at Public Citizen.
“Assuming there is no formal agreement, then the money is considered iHeartRadio funds, with which it can do as it pleases,” Holman said. He blamed court decisions such as Citizens United for opening the path to the arrangement between Cruz and iHeartMedia.
“The courts have fabricated a myth that outside groups are ‘independent’ of candidates and therefore fall outside the campaign finance limits and disclosure laws,” Holman told Responsible Statecraft. “So, wealthy interests and even foreign governments launder money to outside groups with the explicit intent of the outside group spending that money to support a specific candidate. Israel is exploiting this court-created loophole.”
Neither Cruz nor iHeartMedia responded to questions about whether the Truth and Courage PAC has received or will receive money from the “I am Israel” campaign. A representative of the PAC also did not reply. iHeartRadio’s last publicly disclosed donation to the PAC occurred in May.
The PAC does not release detailed information about the advertising revenue it receives from iHeartMedia and is not required to report further donations until the end of the third fiscal quarter in September.
In one advertisement, Cruz’s co-host Ben Ferguson says, “Israel isn’t a destination; it’s a revelation, where every site you’ve studied, every scripture you’ve memorized, every sermon that ever moved you suddenly has an address, a landscape, a heartbeat.” Ferguson continues, “This is the trip that changes not just how you see the Holy Land, but how you see everything.” He then urges listeners to start planning a trip and to follow Visit Israel accounts on social media. The ads do not disclose that Visit Israel is a public-facing entity of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.
The “I am Israel” campaign forms part of Israeli government efforts to revive tourism after years of war. In May 2019, 105,700 American tourists visited Israel. In May of this year, that number stood at 22,600.
At the campaign’s June launch event in New York, hosted by the Jerusalem Post, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told attendees, “We have accomplished so much in the last 3 years. We have defeated our enemies.” He added, “Now it’s your turn…Now you have to start again, bring the groups to Israel.”
The Israeli government has invested in efforts to maintain support among American Christians. These include approval of a proposal to run pro-Israel ads during church services and funding for a Bible study program taught by IDF soldiers and West Bank settlers.
The government also sent $245,000 to Eagles’ Wings, a Christian Zionist organization based in New York, to lobby more than 100 congressional offices for additional military aid to Israel. Israel has used other paid efforts to shape opinion among US conservatives. In related news, Israel paid Trump’s former campaign manager large monthly sums.
A 2025 poll found that only 24 percent of evangelicals under 35 years old support the Israelis over the Palestinians. Some members of Congress have criticized existing approaches to the conflict. In other news, a Democrat says America’s Israel-Palestine strategy has failed and argues for withdrawing taxpayer support.
A procurement document for the campaign, signed by Michael Yitzhakov, chief of staff of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, stated that the goal of the June launch event was to broadcast “a message of ‘business as usual.’” The Israeli government agreed to pay the Jerusalem Post around $195,000 for the event.
Cruz has been a strong supporter of Israel in Congress. In November 2023 he said, “There is no military on the face of the planet, including the U.S. military, that goes to the lengths that the Israeli military goes to avoid civilian casualties.” Last week, Cruz praised Israeli companies for investing $3.2 billion in Texas and creating more than 4,200 jobs across the state.
Cruz follows Christian Zionism. He told podcast host Tucker Carlson last year, “I was taught from the Bible, those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed. And from my perspective, I want to be on the blessing side.”
Cruz has received financial support from pro-Israel donors. Israeli-American billionaire Miriam Adelson gave $1 million to the Truth and Courage PAC in 2024. Cruz told Carlson that the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC “raises a lot of money for me.”
Published: Aug 23, 2026 01:30 pm