Israel Books Two U.S. Firms in One Week: Sniper for Ads, Mercury for DC
Two FARA filings in one week confirm what the communications industry has been watching since October 7: Israel is buying U.S. communications capacity across advertising, public affairs, and policy outreach — and doing it through a widening roster of registered foreign agents.
On June 24, Sniper Advertising Services LLC registered with the U.S. Department of Justice to represent Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Tourism. The Deerfield Beach firm — organized in Wyoming, led by partners Larry Kerschenbaum and Frederick Hickerson — describes itself as an expert in waste-free targeted marketing. Some of the campaigns referenced in its DOJ filing include efforts to combat the spread of antisemitism in the United States.
Sniper's one-year contract took effect June 18. Fees are based on advertising volume and contingent on the number of campaigns chosen by the two Ministries, which retain the right to review creative and curate audiences. O'Dwyer's reported the engagement on June 26.
Five days later, Mercury Public Affairs — the Omnicom-owned bipartisan firm — filed its own registration to represent the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, the Jerusalem-based think tank that, on its own site, advances pragmatic and realistic approaches in Israeli foreign and defense policy, grounded in the values of Zionism.
Mercury's scope is narrow and high-leverage. A one-month contract that began June 24. Distribution of a strategic report. Virtual outreach to members of key Senate and House committees, the Abraham Accords Caucus, and executive branch officials. Then a three-day Washington Engagement Program in late July, designed to put Misgav representatives in front of policymakers and government stakeholders. Mercury senior VP Bill Cortese — a former advisor to House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik — leads the account. Fee: $5,000.
The pattern matters more than either contract. These two filings sit alongside a cluster of Israel-linked FARA registrations over the past nine months: Clock Tower X (Brad Parscale's firm), SKDKnickerbocker, Bridges Partners, Show Faith by Works, and Piro — most funneled through Havas Media Group Germany on behalf of the Israel Government Advertising Agency (LaPam). Together they represent a multimillion-dollar U.S. communications procurement push targeting churchgoers, conservatives, Democrats, Congress, and the media — every audience segment Israel has identified as either eroding or strategically necessary post-October 7.
Sniper handles paid media. Mercury handles the room. Different tools, same operating thesis: rebuild U.S. support — voter by voter, member by member — through registered, disclosed, professionally executed campaigns.
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