The Israeli In Middle Of Buzzfeed Fake News Probe Into Trump And Russia

By Daniel J. Solomon March 15, 2017

An Israel “cyber consultant” has reportedly been circulating fake documents that purport to show a shady deal between President Trump and Exxon Mobil to appoint the company’s former chief executive Rex Tillerson as secretary of state.

According to BuzzFeed News, which obtained the false papers, the trove claims the Trump Organization real estate firm was paid in excess of $1.5 billion by gas company Exxon. The payments heighten suspicions about ties between the president’s campaign and the Kremlin.

Yoni Ariel, 60, who is an Israeli citizen and also goes by the name Jonathan Schwartz, is married to an American. He paid an Italian businessman $9,000 for the phony documents.

He claimed to be a political activist and consultant of long standing, especially in South Africa, where he was born and raised. He says he emigrated to Israel but aided the African National Congress in the ‘80’s during its struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

Ariel claimed that he suspected Russia was involved in trying to sway the U.S. election in Trump’s favor due to his supposed background in international espionage.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO