Haim Eshed is a retired brigadier general in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and former director of space programs for the Israel Ministry of Defense for nearly 30 years. shed claimed in an interview with Israeli national newspaper Yediot Aharonot that the United States government had been in contact with extraterrestrial life for years and had signed secret agreements with a "Galactic Federation" in order to do experiments on Earth, and that there is a joint base underground on Mars where they collaborate with American astronauts. He also stated that US president Donald Trump was aware of this and was "on the verge" of informing everyone of their existence, but was stopped by the "Galactic Federation", who wished to prevent mass hysteria.
According to Isaac Ben-Israel, current chairman of the Israel Space Agency, Eshed went "too far" with his claims, but "his seriousness shouldn’t be questioned and his standing as a leader in his field remains intact".