American billionaire Sheldon Adelson's Maccabee Task Force has successfully battled BDS on college campuses for the last two years, the Times of Israel reported.
The Maccabees focus on 40 campuses considered especially hostile to Israel and toward students who support Israel. The task force expected 15 of those institutions to pass resolutions pressuring faculty to boycott Israel over the 2017-2018 academic year, which just ended.
However, of the expected resolutions, only ten were brought for a vote, and only three passed.
A major component of the Maccabees' activities on campuses was the invitation of student leaders to participate in guided tours of Israel.
Maccabee Task Force head David Brog wrote in an email that "while we had a great year, it was not a perfect year," and that “while we won far more battles than we lost, BDS still passed on three of our campuses.”
When asked why, in their opinion, BDS supporters had withdrawn their anti-Israel resolutions on several campuses,Brog told the Times of Israel that apparently the anti-Israel activists "saw that we were better organized this year, more influential this year, and they weren’t going to win.”