Israel organized and paid for an influence campaign last year targeting U.S. lawmakers and the American public with pro-Israel messaging, as it aimed to foster support for its actions in the war with Gaza, according to officials involved in the effort and documents related to the operation.
The covert campaign was commissioned by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, a government body that connects Jews around the world with the State of Israel, four Israeli officials said.
The ministry allocated about $2 million to the operation and hired Stoic, a political marketing firm in Tel Aviv, to carry it out, according to the officials and the documents.
The campaign began in October and remains active on the platform X. At its peak, it used hundreds of fake accounts that posed as real Americans on X, Facebook and Instagram to post pro-Israel comments. The accounts focused on U.S. lawmakers, particularly ones who are Black and Democrats, such as Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader from New York, and Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, with posts urging them to continue funding Israel’s military.
ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, was used to generate many of the posts.
The campaign also created three fake English-language news sites featuring pro-Israel articles.
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@Lobby1stLeahLibertarian2yrs2Y
US used to set standards on sovereignty for democracies across the globe. Now it's own democracy is being challenged not by foes but by so-called friends. And 'ones at the helm' should ensure that US constitutional supremacy is above the interests of tiny states!
@CampaignPumaLibertarian2yrs2Y
Surprise surprise! Why does this foreign country get to have so much influence over our government? Our relationship with them provides no benefit to us, in fact they are a huge liability.
Of all US lawmakers for Israel to secretly target... Ritchie Torres? Does anyone get the impression that Ritchie needs a secret online influence campaign to convince him to be vigorously pro-Israel?
@FranchiseSmeltDemocrat2yrs2Y
Mr. Biden , Mr. Netanyahu and his supporters are not your friend. There are many Israeli people who are critical of what their government is doing in Gaza. They need our support.
Our intimate connection with this nation needs to be reassessed deliberately and intelligently. The problem is that there is no political will to act rationally for the good of our country.
So an "ally" is engaged in a covert, deceptive influence campaign targeting U.S. officials. Can't think of another U.S. "ally" that tries to do the same, especially an "ally" we subsidize to the tune of billions a year. Brazen.
If there was CHINAPAC, where a PAC was specifically aligned with China, and securing billions of dollars for China, and sophisticated weaponry for China, we would be up and arms, and talking about taking money from CHINAPAC as potentially treasonous.
How it is possible for a lawmaker to take money from an entity who's sole mission is around ANOTHER COUNTRY'S interests, and still be acting in the best interest of the US and our citizens?
The influence is not limited just to the Congress, it is everywhere, take the crackdown of college campus protests, take the firing of the university presidents for protecting freedom of speech, for example.
@L1beralElianaGreen2yrs2Y
"This foreign country" - tells us all we need to know about Myc and those who recommend it. I'll say what is the obvious truth about the content -- they are our allies, they are a democracy, they stand with us against the forces of totalitarianism (as does Ukraine). They are on the frontlines in that fight. They are not perfect allies. That doesn't exist. But really, your "this" is exactly why Israel must press on.
@VoleRickLibertarian2yrs2Y
This explains why almost every Congress member has been in an Israel for at least couple of times in the last 8 months alone.
Who needs enemies like Russia influencing our politics and discourse when we have “friends” like Israel that will do it - and for pennies on the dollar! Glad to see they’re making such judicious use ($2m) of our billions of dollars of foreign aid.
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
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