Around two dozen Republican lawmakers privately gathered in a room at the Utah Capitol complex last month to view a “horror movie” produced by Israel’s military. The film was advertised to lawmakers and journalists as footage the Israeli military, known as the Israel Defense Forces, said was of Hamas militants leaving the blockaded Gaza Strip to attack nearby Israeli towns on Oct. 7.
Several Utah Highway Patrol troopers stood guard as legislators shook their heads in disapproval of Hamas’ portrayed actions and shielded their eyes from the violent and graphic images presented by the Israeli military. All of the representatives in attendance voted in November to pass a resolution “Supporting the State of Israel.”
The screening was held as Israel continues to bombard Gaza nine months after the October attack, fueling tensions with the United States and increasing scrutiny around the billions of dollars in aid Americans have sent to support its military operations.
Over 1,100 Israelis have been killed so far in the war, with most dying on Oct. 7. More than 38,000 Palestinians — the vast majority from Gaza — have been killed. Among the dead are over 100 journalists and media workers who have sought to document the conflict.
Some Utah journalists were extended “non-transferable” invitations to the event, and were required to sign nondisclosure agreements that they would not record video, audio or take pictures of the film, which is not available for public viewing. Contents of the film have not been independently verified by journalists.
A Salt Lake Tribune reporter attended the viewing of the roughly 45-minute film. The footage includes scenes from body and dashboard cameras, as well as audio recordings of telephone calls and radio transmissions, that the Israeli military says were confiscated or intercepted from Hamas militants.
(Tamir Kalifa | The New York Times) Evgenia Simanovich runs to the family home’s reinforced concrete shelter, moments after rocket sirens sounded in Ashkelon, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
The Utah Legislature is among the latest to host Israeli officials for a screening of the film. It has also been shown to members of Congress and celebrities.
Although at least some Democratic state lawmakers were invited to watch what the hosting Israel Defense Forces major described as a “horror movie,” none came. Attorney General Sean Reyes joined Republican senators and representatives in the audience.
So why would the Republicans officials spend an hour of a busy evening during June’s interim session to watch the graphic film?
Senate President Stuart Adams, a Republican from Layton who for years voiced his backing of the 76-year-old country, said education and understanding.
“Time and again throughout world history, we have learned education is vital in working to prevent future atrocities,” Adams said in a statement about the Israeli military-sponsored viewing. “Given Utah’s ties with Israel, it is imperative we understand the nature of the conflict through viewing this footage for ourselves.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Senate President Stuart Adams says a few words as members of Congregation Kol Ami, and supporters of Israel gather to mourn those murdered by the Hamas terrorist attack, on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023.
Campus and Capitol protests
As the 2021 chair of the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, Adams sat on a panel with Israeli-American Council CEO Elan Carr, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump as the Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating anti-Semitism — a position focusing on foreign policy. Carr told the audience that Adams was a “champion” of “fighting this scourge of Jew hatred,” which he described as “orthodoxy” on college campuses in the form of criticism of Israel.
Adams’ efforts to bolster support for Israel in Utah and across the country while heading ALEC are why former South Carolina state representative and current Judge Alan Clemmons, another former ALEC chair, arranged to show the film in Utah.
“Members of the Legislature of Utah need to be witnesses,” Clemmons told GOP lawmakers before the showing. “You can push back on the narratives that paint the atrocities in a light different from what they actually are.”
And after disclosing that he was, in part, motivated by his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Clemmons added, “We want our brothers and sisters to bear witness.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A man wears a Pro-Palestine shirt as he holds a sign during the “Die-in for Palestine” event at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023.
Numerous protests against Israel’s ongoing siege of Gaza have sprung up in the Beehive State in the months since October. A group of students at the University of Utah joined counterparts on campuses around the country earlier this year in rallying in support of Palestine, and were forcefully removed by police.
Faculty members who signed a letter in solidarity with those students urged the public university to allow such encampments as “a valid form of free expression.”
Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz posted a video criticizing the letter, saying, “College campuses are not arenas for disruptive and unruly protests.”
Schultz was not among those who attended the screening.
How Utah leaders’ support impacts Israel’s interests
In the days after Oct. 7, Utah lawmakers gathered with miniature Israeli flags in their hands. Adams posted to X, “This is clearly a fight between good versus evil, a fight for the free world. We will not let evil prevail.”
Utah’s Capitol was lit up in blue and white. A month later, as the House of Representatives convened to award Schultz the speaker’s gavel, Republicans and Democrats spent 40 minutes debating, and passing, the resolution supporting Israel.
During the vote, a group of Muslim women with Palestinian kaffiyehs around their shoulders huddled together — some crying.
Ambreen Khan, who still had fake blood smeared on her cheeks from a rally before the vote, said, “We’re calling our representatives every day and no one’s listening. People are protesting outside, no one’s listening. How many more voices need to be heard? This feels like a fake democracy.”
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) People form an encampment during a demonstration in support of Palestine at the University of Utah, Monday, April 29, 2024.
That wasn’t the first time lawmakers had debated the state’s relationship with Israel in the statehouse.
In 2012, the Legislature passed a resolution urging then-Gov. Gary Herbert to embark on a trade mission to Israel. The next year it approved a resolution that “recognizes Israel’s legal, historical, and moral right of self-governance and self-defense.”
A bill to ban state partnerships with companies that boycott Israel was first proposed in 2018, and while a resolution condemning the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement passed that year, lawmakers rejected a similar bill again in 2020 before codifying that stance in 2021. Utah was the 33rd state to enact such legislation.
Lawmakers themselves have taken multiple trips to Israel in recent years to build economic partnerships between what has been dubbed the “Start-up Nation” and Utah, which has lately taken to calling itself “the Startup State.”
In a recap of a 2022 World Trade Center Utah-planned trip to Israel, which several legislators joined, the deputy chief of staff for the Utah Senate was listed as the point of contact for networking around innovation, transportation and development planning, records obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune show.
Utah officials — including the now-policy advisor for the Utah House of Representatives — also met with the Israel Ministry of Defense on how its procurement process works and how Utah’s companies can become vendors.
Gov. Spencer Cox’s office noted in a December news release after meeting with Israel’s Los Angeles consul general that trade between Israel and Utah exceeded $170 million in 2022.
Shortly after Oct. 7, the head of a conglomerate of Utah aerospace, defense and cyber companies, issued a statement expressing “sincere support and solidarity with the people of Israel.”
Utah Aerospace and Defense CEO Aaron Starks wrote, “We hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to the current conflict, and we stand ready to support initiatives that promote stability, security, and cooperation in the region.”
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