Adam C. Emanuel is the principal and owner of Emanuel & Associates, based in Washington, DC, and a lobbyist for Israel Aerospace Industries NA (IAI NA), a defense sector company that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd (IAI), which itself is an Israeli state-owned company.
Emanuel is also currently a lobbyist for HALO Maritime Defense Systems (since January 1, 2022); ACU Energy International LLC (since June 1, 2021); Aerospace Intelligence (since July 1, 2014); ELTA NA (since February 1, 2015 – ELTA NA is also a wholly owned subsidiary of IAI; ESA (Elbit Systems of America, since July 1, 2009 – Elbit Systems of Americas is a wholly owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd., based in Israel); Fibrotex USA (the US subsidiary of private Israeli company Fibrotex, since January 1, 2019); Flyer Defense (since January 1, 2019); Mistral Group (formerly Mistral Security, Inc., since January 2007 – Mistral is an Israeli company); and NTech Workforce (since April 1, 2022).
While Emanuel and his company are registered with the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), they have not filed with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit at the Department of Justice (DOJ), even though he represents a foreign principal (the government of Israel as the owner of IAI and IAI NA) in his lobbying efforts through his representation of IAI NA. Under LDA, there are minimal reporting requirements, and lobbyists are not required to disclose meetings or communications they have had with Members of Congress or other government officials, nor must they disclose the terms of their contracts. FARA registration does require foreign agents to submit their contracts for public view and quarterly reports of all communications and meetings and the content of material they send.
IAI's Abusive Weapons
IAI and its owner, the Israeli government, are responsible for grave violations of the rights of Palestinians, including systematic and widespread attacks on civilians in Gaza using weapons produced by IAI and deployed by the Israeli military. IAI produces the HeronTP (Eitan), a high-altitude, long-endurance drone, which can carry a 1,000 kilogram payload. The HeronTP has been described as "the Israel Air Force's workhorse."
Israel has deployed this drone as part of its indiscriminate attacks against Gaza since 'Operation Cast Lead' in 2008. According to the 2014 report, "Sleepless in Gaza," commissioned by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, which attempted to document the impact of Israeli drone attacks, during 'Operation Cast Lead' (December 2008 to January 2009), "it is estimated that a total of 42 drone attacks were launched which killed 87 civilians. Of these, 29 were children. Some 73 others were wounded directly from such attacks." In the November 2012 'Operation Pillar of Defense' assault on Gaza, "around two-thirds of those killed by drone strikes (24 of 36), were civilians." In May 2021, during the 'Operation Guardian of the Walls' assault, Israeli airstrikes killed 67 Palestinian children and at least 129 civilians overall. In the August 2022 'Operation Breaking Dawn' assault, Israeli officials claimed that "drones conducted more than 2,000 hours of flight time in some 100 sorties." In 66 hours, 49 people were killed in Gaza, among them 17 children, with drone attacks accounting for the majority of the casualties. Israel's apparent indiscriminate and/or disproportionate attacks on Gaza with its aerial forces, including drones, constitute violations of international humanitarian law (IHL).
In addition to its use by the Israeli military, IAI exports the HeronTP and other weapons systems it manufactures for sale to other countries. In June 2021, it was reported that IAI had reached the fourth commercial deal of the year to sell its drones, this time for $200 million to India. As a whole, 2021 marked IAI's most profitable year, with sales reaching over $4 billion.
Failure to Register with FARA as Lobbyists for a Foreign Agent
Although Emanuel and his firm are registered with the LDA (maintained by Congress) as lobbyists for IAI NA (meaning they are registered as lobbyists for a domestic client), they have failed to register as Foreign Agents with the Foreign Agent Registration Act system (FARA, which is administered by the Department of Justice). While there is a commercial exemption in the FARA regulations to permit lobbyists to register their work only with LDA, even when representing a foreign commercial client, FARA rules are clear that when the interests being represented are of a foreign principal (namely a foreign government), the lobbyists must register as Foreign Agents.
Emanuel and his firm (of which he is the only registered lobbyist) have lobbied on behalf of Israel Aerospace Industries NA since January 1, 2018, as per Emanuel's filing with the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) database. As documented by the reports submitted by Emanuel, his lobbying for IAI NA concerns Arrow Missile Defense, and targets the Department of Defense, U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. From 1999 to 2018, Emanuel was registered as a lobbyist for Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd, an Israeli state-owned company, which was renamed Israel Aerospace Industries. In his Mid-Year Report in 1999, Emanuel did indicate that Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd was 100% owned by the government of Israel. However, a search of the FARA registration archives at the Department of Justice reveals that Emanuel never registered as a FARA agent, including prior to 2018 (when his client became the U.S. subsidiary company).
The reporting requirements for the LDA system do not require lobbyists to disclose more information other than the general subject of the work and which house of Congress and executive agencies they are engaging. FARA, on the other hand, requires registered foreign agents to disclose all communications conducted on behalf of the client and submission of any materials produced and shared. Furthermore, FARA requires lobbyists to submit their contract with their foreign client, offering much greater transparency into the nature of the representation, which offices are targeted and for what purpose. Thus, by failing to register with FARA, Emanuel is avoiding transparency in relation to his work on behalf of the interests of IAI NA and its owner, the government of Israel.
Israel Aerospace Industries NA (IAI NA), headquartered in Herndon, VA, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd (IAI), headquartered at Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, Israel. IAI NA was established with the purpose of developing business for the parent company in the United States, and to maintain relations with Congressional and government offices in the context of U.S. military assistance to Israel, notably the hundreds of millions of dollars each year provided for Israel's missile defense program.
Emanuel registered to lobby on behalf of Israel Aerospace Industries NA in 2018, and reported that his registered activity was for the Arrow Missile System. Question #14 on the Lobbying Registration form (Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (Section 4)) requires the lobbyist to indicate if there "is any foreign entity [that]: a) holds at least 20% equitable ownership in the client…" According to Lobbying Disclosure Act Guidance prepared by the House of Representatives, in the section 'Listing Foreign Entities,'
"Each registration must contain the name, address, principal place of business, amount of any contribution greater than $5,000 to the lobbying activities of the registrant, and approximate percentage of ownership in the client of any foreign entity that: holds at least 20 percent equitable ownership in the client or any affiliate of the client required to be reported; or directly or indirectly, in whole or major part, plans, supervises, controls, directs, finances, or subsidizes the activities of the client or affiliate of the client required to be reported; or is an affiliate of either the client, or an organization affiliated with the client identified on the registration (LD-1) and has a direct interest in the outcome of the lobbying activity. The purpose of the disclosure is to identify the interests of the foreign entity that may be operating behind the registrant or client."
As evidenced above, and by the information available on both IAI NA's website and IAI's website, the client in this case (IAI NA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of IAI, which itself is a government-owned (Israel) company. Emanuel answered 'no' to this question; answering 'yes' requires additional reporting information and disclosure for the purposes of transparency, including Question #27 (submitted as blank by Mr. Emanuel), which requires identification of any foreign entity that has ownership in the client. As such, Emanuel might be in violation of the LDA regulations, having provided false information by omitting the true nature of the relationship between his client and a foreign government.
IAI NA has a sizable office location in Virginia, but does not appear to manufacture or provide material services in the United States. Rather, IAI NA appears to exist merely as an agent to acquire business for its IAI parent company in Israel. As such, any funds used by IAI NA to lobby Congress or any agency or department should be understood as serving the parent company's interest and paid for by funds controlled by the parent (foreign) company. Given that the parent company (IAI) is not only a foreign corporation but also a state-owned company pursuing lobbying that concerns US foreign military assistance and the interests of a foreign government, federal rules suggest that Emanuel should be registered with FARA as well as with LDA.
According to his reporting, Emanuel earns $15,000 per quarter for his representation of IAI NA, though a copy of the contract is not available, as LDA does not require the contract to be filed. On the other hand, FARA does require lobbyist contracts to be submitted, ensuring greater transparency.
DAWN has filed a formal complaint to the FARA Unit at the DOJ, calling for an investigation of Emanuel's apparent violation of the FARA statute and the application of all relevant penalties. As a lobbyist for more than two decades, particularly for Israeli state-owned military sector companies, Emanuel clearly should have understood the requirement to register with FARA.
In his work for Israel Aerospace Industries, NA, Emanuel has breached his human rights responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by contributing to, and benefiting from, human rights abuses perpetrated by IAI. Lobbying on behalf of governments, agencies, officials, or companies responsible for serious human rights abuses, while misrepresenting or omitting information about their abuses of international human rights law or violations of international humanitarian law, or obtaining, sustaining, or expanding military, political, or economic support for them, effectively contributes to, and benefits from, such abuses.
Recommendations
DAWN calls on Adam Emanuel to drop his contract with Israel Aerospace Industries NA immediately, to conduct a thorough review of all its clients, and to cease representation of clients such as IAI NA whose policies do not comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Under the Guiding Principles, businesses have a responsibility "to avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through their own activities" as well as "to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products or services by their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to those impacts." Lobbying on behalf of governments, agencies, officials, or companies responsible for serious human rights abuses, while misrepresenting or omitting information about their abuses of international human rights law or international humanitarian law, or obtaining, sustaining, or expanding military, political, or economic support for them, effectively contributes to, and benefits from, such abuses. Emanuel is contributing to, and benefiting from, abuses committed by the Israeli government and its military companies.
Moreover, by failing to register his lobbying activities with FARA, Adam Emanuel is violating the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying, which recommend that all lobbyists conduct their professional activities with "integrity and honesty."
For additional information, see DAWN's detailed recommendations to Congress, lobbyists, and U.S. State Bar Associations on the Lobbyist Hall of Shame.
