This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

An Israeli private intelligence firm spied on the Palestinian-American activist and Women’s March co-chair Linda Sarsour and her family in an apparent attempt to collect damaging information, according to a report by Haaretz.

Israel Cyber Shield (ICS), supplied information to a rightwing pro-Israel group associated with American billionaire and Donald Trump backer Sheldon Adelson, the Israeli newspaper reported.

Haaretz claimed ICS delivered the dossier to the Act.IL group, and the material was used to dissuade US colleges from allowing the activist, who supports a boycott of Israel, to speak on campus.

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Sarsour, who lives in Brooklyn, has been a frequent target of pro-Israel pressure organisations. She is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, a Palestinian-led global effort to persuade companies, artists, governments and universities to boycott Israel over its occupation of the Palestinian territories, as well as other demands.

Modelled on South African anti-apartheid campaigns, BDS is seen as a strategic threat by Israel’s government, and it has banned members of organisations it deems pro-BDS, including a Jewish anti-occupation non-profit, from entering the country. The blacklist has been condemned as an assault on free speech.

Haaretz cited a student who it said volunteered for Act.IL and claimed the Sarsour dossier included a password-protected file containing information on her parents, as well as a court case in which she was involved.

The dossier included allegations that Sarsour applauded violence toward Israeli soldiers and a tweet of hers that said, “Nothing is creepier than Zionism”. It concluded with “an executive summary that highlighted her apparent weak points”, the report said.

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Act.IL, which says its primary goal is to battle BDS and the “delegitimization of Israel”, used the information to prepare a letter that was distributed to the heads of universities where Sarsour had appeared, Haaretz said.

After the article was published, a US-based pro-Israel thinktank, which says it “protects western values from Middle Eastern threats”, said it had compiled the document. In a statement, the Middle East Forum said it “publicly and openly tracked Linda Sarsour’s career since 2010” and created the dossier in December.

One of the US’s most prominent activists, Sarsour is co-chair of the Women’s March movement and spoke at its main Washington rally after Trump’s inauguration.

Haaretz said Act.IL’s CEO, Yarden Ben Yosef, confirmed that his group received materials from ICS but did not pay for it.

The head of ICS and a former officer in Israel police’s international crime division, Eran Vasker, was quoted in the article as refusing to disclose if he had worked for Act.IL.

“ICS operates lawfully, engaging in research and information on anti-Israeli activity, the delegitimisation movement and its activists – as reflected in their visible activity on social media. We do not engage in building files on activists or their families. It seems you must have confused us with other organisations,” he was quoted as saying.

The Guardian has contacted Act.IL, ICS and Sarsour for a response.