In recent days, a Telegram group with over 3,000 members called the Trial of Traitors posed as a group of activists protesting against the judicial overhaul. Images of police violence were distributed among the group, along with their personal information, as part of a "shaming" campaign. The FakeReporter group suspected that at work was a foreign campaign, possibly Iranian.
Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir echoed the campaign and claimed that the protestors were trying to threaten police officers and prevent them from doing their job. In parallel, the police clarified that the campaign was likely carried out by a foreign country. Nonetheless, the Minister has not deleted the tweet, even though he issued a clarification, after receiving a report from security officials that that a foreign country was suspected to be behind the publications.
In recent months, INSS has carried out research on similar campaigns, most of which are suspected to be Iranian, which used demonstrations – on both sides – to deepen the rifts in Israeli society.
The "policemen campaign" teaches several phenomena:• On the influencer’s side – probably Iran – a close familiarity with polarizing processes in Israeli society is evident, as is an attempt to deepen rifts with the aim of weakening Israel. The police have been in the spotlight for the past few months, so it is not surprising that a foreign element would try to use this as part of fanning the flames and widening the internal disputes.
• The difficulty of distinguishing between internal and external discourse: although in this case Ben Gvir picked up on a campaign of external origin, it is possible that in other cases he might internal messages. The problem is that it is simply very difficult to tell. This is one of the problems when dealing with the challenge of foreign influence on social media. Everything is mixed together.
• This is not the first case in which public figures are "trapped in a foreign net" and cooperate with it unknowingly. Actors in the Israeli establishment – politicians, media figures, and online influencers – are required to exercise caution in order to avoid letting foreign elements stir up the internal democratic discourse in Israel.
• The foreign campaign was exposed by a civil society entity (FakeReporter) that relies on the wisdom of the masses. One of the conclusions is that while civil society is targeted for influence, it also has the power to serve as a significant component in creating a vaccine against it.
In recent days, a Telegram group with over 3,000 members called the Trial of Traitors posed as a group of activists protesting against the judicial overhaul. Images of police violence were distributed among the group, along with their personal information, as part of a "shaming" campaign. The FakeReporter group suspected that at work was a foreign campaign, possibly Iranian.
Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir echoed the campaign and claimed that the protestors were trying to threaten police officers and prevent them from doing their job. In parallel, the police clarified that the campaign was likely carried out by a foreign country. Nonetheless, the Minister has not deleted the tweet, even though he issued a clarification, after receiving a report from security officials that that a foreign country was suspected to be behind the publications.
In recent months, INSS has carried out research on similar campaigns, most of which are suspected to be Iranian, which used demonstrations – on both sides – to deepen the rifts in Israeli society.
The "policemen campaign" teaches several phenomena:• On the influencer’s side – probably Iran – a close familiarity with polarizing processes in Israeli society is evident, as is an attempt to deepen rifts with the aim of weakening Israel. The police have been in the spotlight for the past few months, so it is not surprising that a foreign element would try to use this as part of fanning the flames and widening the internal disputes.
• The difficulty of distinguishing between internal and external discourse: although in this case Ben Gvir picked up on a campaign of external origin, it is possible that in other cases he might internal messages. The problem is that it is simply very difficult to tell. This is one of the problems when dealing with the challenge of foreign influence on social media. Everything is mixed together.
• This is not the first case in which public figures are "trapped in a foreign net" and cooperate with it unknowingly. Actors in the Israeli establishment – politicians, media figures, and online influencers – are required to exercise caution in order to avoid letting foreign elements stir up the internal democratic discourse in Israel.
• The foreign campaign was exposed by a civil society entity (FakeReporter) that relies on the wisdom of the masses. One of the conclusions is that while civil society is targeted for influence, it also has the power to serve as a significant component in creating a vaccine against it.