Tens of thousands of fake accounts linked to foreign actors are operating on social media in an effort to influence public discourse in Israel, deepen internal divisions, and spread political messages, according to an investigation by Ayala Hasson aired on Kan News.
The investigation presented a study by an American company that identified a large-scale influence operation against Israel that was launched alongside Hamas' October 7 attack. According to the study, some 40,000 bots spread anti-Israel messages that generated approximately 531 million views within 48 hours.
Bots are accounts that present themselves as real people but are operated using software capable of spreading messages, responding to other accounts, promoting content, and creating the appearance of widespread public support for a particular position.
According to the investigation, such networks began spreading messages around the world in the first hours of October 7 aimed at changing perceptions of the Hamas massacre. In some cases, the networks used genuine images from the massacre and hostage abductions but accompanied them with messages that distorted what the footage actually showed.
One example involved footage of the Bibas family's abduction. According to the study, fake accounts circulated the images while portraying Hamas terrorists as helping the family. The message received millions of views.
Similar activity was identified following the explosion at a hospital in Gaza. The investigation reported that bot networks rapidly spread claims that Israel had deliberately attacked the hospital and killed children. The messages generated hundreds of millions of views and later made their way into international media coverage.
According to the study, a significant portion of the influence operations are linked to Iranian actors, alongside activity attributed to Qatar and Turkey.
But the investigation found that the activity is not limited to the battle for global public opinion over Israel. Some of the accounts that were active around October 7 later went dormant, only to resume activity after a lengthy hiatus ahead of Israel's election campaign.
Some accounts even completely changed their identities. An account that previously presented itself with a particular persona and language could later reappear under an Israeli name, using photographs and political views designed to create the impression that it belonged to a genuine Israeli citizen.
According to the analysis presented in the investigation, tens of thousands of the roughly 55,000 profiles examined in Israeli political discourse were identified as bots. Much of their activity focuses on responding to posts by genuine Israelis, where they seek to inject extreme messages and amplify existing divisions.
The study identified such activity in discussions surrounding parties and candidates from across Israel's political spectrum. In some cases, the accounts attack the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while in others they promote positive messages about his political rivals.
The investigation stressed that identifying bots in discussions supporting a particular politician does not indicate that the politician or their party is operating them. According to the researchers, foreign actors seek to exploit genuine divisions within Israeli society, magnify them, and intensify hostility between opposing camps.
The strategy, as presented in the investigation, often begins with a message that already exists in Israeli public discourse. Thousands of fake accounts then repeat and amplify it until it creates the impression that the view is far more widespread than it actually is.
According to the investigation, the primary goal is not necessarily to secure victory for a particular candidate, but to undermine trust within Israeli society and deepen its existing divisions.