The Zionist Advocacy Center (ZAC) is a for-profit legal agency founded by lawyer David Abrams in 2014 to pressure non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that Abrams claims are using federal funding against Israel’s interests and in support of terrorist organizations. ¹

Abrams is ZAC’s only employee and the face of the organization. The Center has sued organizations ranging from nonprofits to educational institutions, including but not limited to the Carter Center, the University of California Los Angeles, and Doctors without Borders. ¹ One of the organization’s most prominent victories was “qui tam” challenge to the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Institute for allegedly fraudulently securing a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. The Institute settled the lawsuit by paying the federal government over $700,000, twice the amount of PPP money secured, but did not admit liability. ²

While Abrams claims that he is forcing non-governmental organizations to use government funds responsibly, his critics have called his approach a bad faith move to curb criticism of Israel and oppose Palestinian causes. ¹

Background

Abrams is an employment lawyer who founded the Zionist Advocacy Center in 2014 to file federal False Claims Act lawsuits and put pressure on organizations that he says violate a legal attestation that they do not support organizations on the U.S. terror list while receiving federal funds. In a report about ZAC, Politico noted that many organizations fail to fully adhere to the attestations, called Anti-Terrorism Certifications, once funds are used for program services, especially overseas. This opens organizations up to civil litigation under FCA. ¹

In a 2018 interview, Abrams said that ZAC pressures NGOs through reports filed to the IRS about suspected violations of the False Claims Act, filing False Claims Act lawsuits, and opposing the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. He also said that ZAC focuses primarily on organizations with alleged links to terrorist groups that support Palestinian statehood or the elimination of Israel. ³

ZAC does not engage in fundraising. Its financial model is based on proceeds from successful False Claims Act challenges, as whistleblowers win percentages of fines and fees secured by the U.S. federal government. ³

Example Cases

In 2015, the Zionist Advocacy Center filed a complaint against Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA). The organization received a U.S. government contract to provide emergency aid to South Sudan, but it also worked in Iran and Gaza on projects that allegedly included members of terror groups. The organization eventually paid the U.S. government over $2 million to settle the matter, saying that the mistake was inadvertent, and they hoped to continue working with the U.S. government. ⁴ Abrams framed the settlement as small compared to the $90 million NPA received from the federal government. ³

That same year, ZAC sued the Carter Center for over $91 million dollars because it provided space and refreshments for a meeting of Palestinian leaders. A federal judge dismissed the case in 2018. ⁵

In 2016, ZAC sued the radical-left National Lawyers Guild (NLG) for refusing to publish an ad with pro-Israel views. He withdrew the lawsuit in 2020. ⁶ Also in 2020, a $110 million ZAC lawsuit against the New Israel Fund was dismissed. Abrams and the Fund both publicly stated that the outcome, which included the Fund improving its processes, was satisfactory. ⁷

In June 2024, the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office announced a settlement with the Middle East Institute (MEI), which Abrams sued for the misuse of funds under the COVID Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). MEI paid $718,558 under the settlement, twice the amount secured in the PPP loan and two-thirds the size of the amount it would have had to pay if found liable in court. MEI did not admit wrongdoing pursuant to the settlement agreement. ²

Higher Education Institutions

ZAC has been involved in lawsuits upholding the rights of Jewish students in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas. Abrams represented the StandWithUs Legal Justice Center (SCLJ) and two Massachusetts Institute of Technology students who filed suit against the university in March 2024 for alleged violations of their civil rights related to campus unrest from pro-Palestinian activists. ⁸

In 2018, Abrams sued the University of California Los Angeles in an attempt to force them to release the names of speakers at a National Students for Justice in Palestine conference held on campus. ⁹

Palestine Legal accused Abrams and ZAC of harassing students and speakers, noting that the lawsuit attempted to publicly disclose names that UCLA wanted to keep private even as it sent the names to agencies that were investigating the conference. ⁹ After three years, a federal judge dismissed the case, in which some defendants were represented by Palestine Legal and the Asian Law Caucus. ⁹

Partner Organizations

The Zionist Advocacy Center is registered as a foreign agent for the International Legal Forum, a Jerusalem-based organization that receives funds from the state of Israel and opposes the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement. ¹⁰

ZAC has also supported at least one case alongside The Lawfare Project, a pro-Israel group, on behalf of a woman who was assaulted for reasons of anti-Semitism on a New York City subway. ¹¹ Public pressure brought by the groups resulted in a hate crime charge against and guilty plea by the assailant. ¹²

Criticism

Abrams has publicly said that any organization has the right to espouse anti-Israel opinions, but that his goal is to pursue legal remedies against any anti-Israel group that steps over the legal line. ¹³ His critics call his activities “serial litigation,” “harassing,” “frivolous,” and “lawfare.” Abrams himself embraces some of these criticisms; on Facebook, he advertised a 2019 talk of his as “Lawfare for Fun and Profit.” ^{14 15 16}

Critics, including organizations that the Zionist Advocacy Center has sued, say that even the dismissed cases are effective in three ways: they require resources to defeat, they put the organizations under funding scrutiny by the U.S. government, and they often result in bad press during the lawsuits themselves. The British group Christian Aid, for example, spent £700,000 (approximately $890,000) defending itself over five years before a ZAC case was dismissed. ¹⁷

In 2021, the Charity and Security Network, a project of NEO Philanthropy, issued a report accusing ZAC and Abrams of being a major part of anti-Palestinian “lawfare” that the report author said is used to suppress philanthropy work supporting Palestinian interests. The “lawfare” allegedly conflates matters like working with the Hamas-led Palestinian government as opposed to allying with Hamas directly. ¹⁸ Abrams says many NGOs make that distinction and he targets those that do not. ³

Leadership

David Abrams is the executive director of the Zionist Advocacy Center. ¹⁹ He is a pro-Israel advocate who founded ZAC to pressure nonprofits against what he claims are pro-terrorism relationships. ¹⁸

According to a media interview, he uses the profits from successful ZAC lawsuits to take on other pro bono work, such as defending a New Jersey embroiderer who was investigated for refusing to embroider an anti-Israel message on a garment. ¹ He is also an opponent of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement. ³

Financials

The Zionist Advocacy Center is a for-profit group that often files lawsuits on a “qui tam” basis under the federal False Claims Act, meaning that ZAC receives a portion of the profits from a successful suit. In the 2020 MEI case, ZAC netted 10 percent of the overall take for $71,855.80. ¹ NPI’s settlement of over two million dollars netted ZAC $300,000. ³

1. Schaffer, Michael. “He’s Waging ‘Lawfare’ Against Israel’s Critics – And Pocketing a Lot of Money.” Politico. July 10, 2024. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/07/10/pro-israel-lawfare-00166457
2. “Non-Profit Middle East Institute to Pay $718,558 to Resolve PPP Fraud Allegations.” United States Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia. June 18, 2024. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/non-profit-middle-east-institute-pay-718558-resolve-ppp-fraud-allegations
3. Parker, Ben. “A Q&A with the pro-Israel US lawyer rattling NGOs on counter-terror compliance.” The New Humanitarian. September 25, 2018. Accessed July, 2024. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/2018/09/25/qa-pro-israel-us-lawyer-rattling-ngos-counter-terror-compliance
4. “Norwegian People’s Aid reaches a settlement with the U.S. government.” Norwegian People’s Aid. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://www.npaid.org/news/norwegian-peoples-aid-reaches-a-settlement-with-the-u-s-government
5. “Suit Alleging Carter Center Provided Material Support Dismissed.” Charity & Security Network. June 12, 2018. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://charityandsecurity.org/news/court_dismisses_suit_against_carter_center/
6. “NLG Ends Frivolous Lawsuit Attacking its Commitment to BDS Movement.” National Lawyers Guild. May 19, 2020. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://www.nlg.org/nlg-ends-frivolous-lawsuit-attacking-bds-movement/
7. Kampeas, Ron. “US federal court dismisses $110 million tax suit against New Israel Fund.” Times of Israel. March 12, 2021. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-federal-court-dismisses-110-million-tax-suit-against-new-israel-fund/
8. “Press Release: StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice and Jewish Students Amend Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Against MIT, Adding Claim Under KKK Laws.” StandWithUs. May 24, 2024. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://www.standwithus.com/post/press-release-standwithus-center-for-legal-justice-and-jewish-students-amend-federal-civil-rights-l
9. Barrows-Friedman, Nora. “Israel lobby loses legal effort to harass Palestinian rights activists.” The Electronic Intifada. March 19, 2021. Accessed July 28, 2204. https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/israel-lobby-loses-legal-effort-harass-palestinian-rights-activists
10. Registration Statement. U.S. Department of Justice. November 29, 2020. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6676-Exhibit-AB-20201129-6.pdf
11. Aharon, Lihi. “CASE UPDATE: Human rights complaint filed for hate crime victim Lihi Aharon.” The Lawfare Project. November 5, 2020. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://www.thelawfareproject.org/releases/2020/11/5/case-update-human-rights-complaint-filed-for-hate-crime-victim-lihi-aharon
12. Aharon, Lihi. “JUSTICE for victim of antisemitic subway attack!” The Lawfare Project. January 19, 2020. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://www.thelawfareproject.org/releases/2022/1/19/justice-for-victim-of-antisemitic-subway-attack
13. Friedman, Lara, “The Surprising New Battleground In the War Against Palestinian Rights: Your Local Courthouse.” Forward. January 7, 2019. Accessed July 28, 2024.  https://forward.com/opinion/417058/opinion-the-surprising-new-battleground-in-the-war-against-palestinian/
14. “UCLA: Right-Wing Attorney’s Demands Put Students at Risk.” Palestine Legal. February 5, 2021. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://palestinelegal.org/case-studies/2021/2/5/right-wing-attorney-puts-students-at-risk-nsjp-ucla
15. Kampeas, Ron. “Activist targets New Israel Fund for ‘electioneering’ via anti-racism groups.” August 5, 2020. Accessed July 28, 2024.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/activist-targets-new-israel-fund-for-electioneering-via-anti-racism-groups/
16. Lawfare for Fun and Profit. Facebook. Accessed July 28, 2024.  “https://www.facebook.com/events/2285733325003851/?_rdr
17. Davies, Lizzy. “Christian Aid claims it was subject to act of ‘lawfare’ by pro-Israel group.” The Guardian. March 2, 2023. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/mar/02/christian-aid-claims-it-was-subject-to-act-of-lawfare-by-pro-israel-group.
18. “The Alarming Rise of Lawfare to Suppress Civil Society: September 2021 The Case of Palestine and Israel.” The Charity & Security Network. September 2021. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://charityandsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/The-Alarming-Rise-of-Lawfare-to-Suppress-Civil-Society.pdf
19. David Abrams. LinkedIn. Accessed July 28, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-abrams-a37ba169/