this2shallPass 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

These countries are the top 10 countries by lobbying dollars from 2016 - 2024:

Country Total Spending

1. China $460,738,925

2. Japan $436,459,337

3. Liberia $353,239,848

4. South Korea $325,835,687

5. Saudi Arabia $311,450,797

6. Marshall Islands $285,094,040

7. Qatar $257,773,194

8. United Arab Emirates $242,674,892

9. Bahamas $242,481,453

https://www.opensecrets.org/fara

Some have spent 2x more money than Israel. Israel is 10th. I haven't heard anybody around me mention Liberia or the Marshall Islands, maybe a handful of times in my life.

These are the top 10 Foreign Principals from 2016 - 2024.

Foreign Principal Total Spending

1. Government of Liberia $350,486,671

2. Government of the Marshall Islands $283,901,646

3. Government of China $277,692,350

4. Japan External Trade Organization $277,638,402

5. Government of Saudi Arabia $238,415,218

6. Government of Bermuda $192,046,623

7. Barzan Holdings $155,775,778

8. ANO TV-Novosti $147,069,172

9. Government of the Bahamas $136,148,426

10 Government of Ireland $132,165,695

No Israeli principal in the top 10. It's obfuscated but Russia is in there (ANO TV-Novosti) and Qatar (Barzan Holdings).

Also, in the link you shared of "Industries", Israel is 7th in single issue. Some of the issues 1-6 have 10x levels of money spent. I wish it were broken down even more. I'm most interested in what makes up "miscellaneous issues".

https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus?ind=Q

	▲	MangoToupe 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Sure, maybe you're right, and the foreign countries purchasing our politicians is a much larger problem than just the one that Israel presents (though, I'm rather skeptical in terms of actual impact on foreign policy and on who gets elected in our country). I still don't think Russia deserves much mention in terms of election interference; they gotta step up their game if they want to compete.

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shlant 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

do you think these are comparable? are you equating lobbying to the infiltration of government systems or coordinated efforts by Russian assets inside a campaign team to influence elections?

	▲	MangoToupe 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		[flagged]