Explosive Allegations: Pro-Israel Group Vine and Fig Tree Accused of Running Influence Op Inside Trump Administration

In a detailed thread posted on May 22, 2026, former Pentagon and White House correspondent Gabrielle Cuccia has leveled serious accusations against Vine & Fig Tree (VFT), a pro-Israel organization with documented ties to the Trump administration.

According to Gabrielle Cuccia, VFT recently met with Sebastian Gorka at the White House and is actively engaged in monitoring, influence, and counter-narrative operations on behalf of administration priorities. She claims she was approached through a well-known “America First Christian” intermediary to ghostwrite scripts for AI-generated videos. These videos, she says, were intended to be produced through VFT to give the appearance of independent content rather than official White House or National Security Council output. She was subsequently provided with a Dropbox containing internal VFT documents, polling data, and strategy memos.

The thread portrays VFT as operating in the shadows to shape Trump administration messaging and counter dissenting conservative voices while maintaining plausible deniability by avoiding direct government branding. The reports specifically cite conservative influencer Nick Shirley as the example of how to execute this operation while giving the public the impression that this is independent reporting and not Israel aligned government propaganda. Multiple screenshots of internal reports are included as supporting evidence.

Vine and Fig Tree (VFT)

Vine and Fig Tree operates through two tightly linked 501(c)(3) nonprofits incorporated in New York in 2024. The Vine and Fig Tree Institute I quickly raised $3 million in its first year, almost entirely from undisclosed philanthropic donors. It then funneled $850,000 into its sister entity, the Vine and Fig Tree Fund, which acts as the grantmaking arm. In just one year, the Fund handed out major sums including $250,000 to the Combat Hate Foundation, $100,000 each to Merona Leadership Foundation and The Giving Back Fund, and additional grants to aligned groups. Both organizations claim zero employees, raising questions about how such large sums are being moved with minimal overhead to influence American discourse.

The group’s name and branding are overtly rooted in Jewish scripture, drawn from Micah 4:4, “every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid”, a verse long associated with Jewish national restoration and security in the land of Israel. Their archived 1-page website prominently displays this biblical imagery while attempting to tie it to George Washington’s letters. This is classic dual signaling. To pro-Israel Jewish audiences, it clearly evokes Zionist themes of Jewish safety and control. To Christian Zionists, it cloaks Israeli advocacy in familiar American and Judeo-Christian language. In reality, it serves as sophisticated branding to launder foreign-aligned priorities, putting Israeli security concerns and censorship via the IHRA definition of antisemitism ahead of America First interests while wrapping itself in the American flag.

Zach Schapira’s Central Role

One of the key figures producing Vine & Fig Tree’s reports is Zach Schapira, a former Twitter/X executive (@zachschapira) who allegedly worked in Trust & Safety operations and product roles through 2025. Schapira also served as a commander in the Israel Defense Force (IDF). Internal VFT documents list him as the contact zs@vft.institute on intelligence briefs. In an April 2025 VFT “Intelligence Brief” titled “Foreign Malign Influence (FMI) Targeting the Trump Administration’s Policy & Personnel,” Schapira is directly tied to the analysis.

Schapira also writes for The Times of Israel and is listed as a named Jewish Expert on JewishExperts.com. He is the founder and president of the J’accuse Coalition for Justice, a group dedicated to combating “antisemitism, anti-Zionism, and anti-Israel bias.”

In both his leaked VFT work and a public interview with Israel influencer Emily Austin, Schapira repeatedly claims that criticism of Israel, skepticism toward Trump administration policies favoring Israel, and dissent from figures are largely the result of foreign psyops by Russia, Iran, and China. He openly advocates for “whole-of-government” responses to police these narratives.

In a recent opinion article for the Washington Post, Schapira praised X’s “About this account” feature as a step toward “digital borders” while pushing for platforms to prioritize “authentic domestic content,” downrank suspicious accounts, and work with the U.S. government to treat foreign influence as a national security issue. This mirrors the exact monitoring and labeling tactics found in the leaked VFT documents he helps produce, reframing legitimate America First criticism of endless foreign aid and Israeli influence as dangerous foreign interference.

From an America First perspective, Schapira exemplifies the problem: a former senior Twitter/X official and IDF commander now working through a pro-Israel nonprofit to monitor, smear, and counter American citizens who prioritize U.S. interests over Israel’s. His work consistently seeks to equate dissent from pro-Israel policies with foreign subversion, using the IHRA definition of antisemitism as a tool to suppress domestic debate.

Emily Austin Connection

Notably, the interviewer Emily Austin has deep ties to Israel. In a separate interview with Anna Kasparian, Austin discussed her influence work on behalf of Israel and addressed questions about foreign agent registration. Austin also previously worked for the UN Permanent Mission of Israel and attended the Israel Influencer meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu in September 2025 where he famously stated conservative opposition to Israel comes from the “Woke Reich” and the most important battle in the US is on social media.

VFT Partnership with NCRI

VFT reportedly partners with Joel Finkelstein’s Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), an Israeli-managed/funded NGO operating in the United States. NCRI’s board includes Israel’s former Chief Censor, Gen. Sima Vaknin Gill. The group is known for so called “hate speech” monitoring using the IHRA definition of antisemitism and has produced highly questionable reports such as:

• Christ is King is Antisemitic

• TikTok is a Chinese Spy App

• Russia & Iran Infiltrated MAGA

• Iran State Media & Domestic Networks Drive Influence Ops

• Qatar Brainwashed US Students to Be Antisemitic

Congressional committees have cited NCRI’s work in legislation and hearings. The former Israel Minister of Strategic Affairs, Natan Sharansky, is on record bragging that the joint report produced by NCRI and ISGAP (another Israeli managed and funded NGO) were behind the antisemitism hearings in the House of Representatives in 2024.

Note on Antisemitism Definition: All of the entities referenced including VFT, Zach Schapira’s organizations, NCRI, and associated figures use the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) working definition of antisemitism, which includes examples that equate criticism of Israel or Israeli policy with antisemitism. The Trump administration has adopted this definition as public policy via Executive Order 13899 and 14188.

VFT and White House Counter Terrorism Strategy

The recently published White House Counterterrorism Strategy is relatively restrained on domestic issues and focuses on foreign/cartel threats which aligns with core America First priorities.

However, the VFT documents reveal a shadow effort to expand the definition of “foreign malign influence” to include legitimate conservative skepticism of Israeli influence, foreign aid, and endless Middle East entanglement. Zach Schapira and VFT are attempting to insert pro-Israel narrative policing into the broader “counter-foreign influence” umbrella that the White House strategy endorses.

While the Strategy warns against politicized domestic surveillance, VFT’s leaked materials show using national security language to monitor and counter America First voices who challenge pro-Israel policies. This creates a classic “public restraint vs. private expansion” dynamic common in influence operations.

Comparative Analysis of the White House Counter Terrorism Strategy to VFT’s Leaked Intelligence Documents.

VFT’s effort mirrors Project Esther which outlined a similar agenda to define “foreign malign influence” to include legitimate criticism within the American left of Israeli influence, foreign aid to Israel, and the Gaza genocide. Project Esther was produced by the Heritage Foundation but it relied heavily on data from Israel and Pro-Israel NGOs such as NCRI, ISGAP, ADL and Canary Mission. Similar to VFT, it claimed “the virulently anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and anti-American groups comprising the so-called pro-Palestine movement inside the United States are exclusively pro-Palestine and more so pro-Hamas. They are part of a highly organized, global Hamas Support Network (HSN) and therefore effectively a terrorist support network.”

Influencers Targeted in VFT Reports

Schapira’s interview with Emily Austin and the leaked VFT materials frequently reference content from prominent conservative and dissident-right voices whose audiences are portrayed as vulnerable to foreign influence:

• Nick Fuentes

• Candace Owens

• Tucker Carlson

• Joe Kent

• Alex Jones

• Hodgetwins

• Dan Bilzerian

• Jackson Hinkle

• Ian Carroll

• Mario Nawfal

• Ian Malcom

• PartisanGirl

Key Allegations from Leaked Documents

The internal materials paint a picture of extensive domestic monitoring:

• VFT tracks major right-wing accounts and often attributes audience skepticism to foreign malign influence operations from Russia, Iran, Pakistan, and China.

• Skepticism surrounding Charlie Kirk’s assassination is described as largely foreign propaganda and labeled an “urgent national security threat” warranting a whole-of-government response comparable to responses to cyberattacks or terrorism.

• Tactics discussed include undermining targets’ Christian credibility, recruiting mainstream conservatives such as Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles to amplify VFT messaging, using burner accounts, AI videos, troll briefs, and audience segmentation, and recommending the use of the Israel funded and managed NCRI for hate speech monitoring and counter-influence efforts.

• Additional examples include framing doubt about the Maui fires narrative as Chinese propaganda.

• One memo advises politicians that the GOP consists of “two wings” that do not overlap and recommends steering toward the “majority” side for re-election, including polling data on JD Vance’s 2028 prospects.

@gabbylovesusa notes that “more to follow” in the ongoing thread on X, suggesting additional revelations may be forthcoming.

Takeaway

An Israel-aligned entity has developed a plan to target American conservative skepticism of Israel influence, foreign aid, and endless Middle East entanglement as “foreign malign influence” operations from Russia, Iran, Pakistan, and China. In other words, a foreign country is working with the White House to label conservatives as foreign actors.