The English Wikipedia as an Arena of the Anti-Israeli Struggle
INSS Insight No. 2053, November 2, 2025
The English-language Wikipedia is one of the main arenas shaping global consciousness regarding Israel and the conflict. However, the dominant presence of anti-Israeli editors makes it a tool that produces a one-sided narrative. When it was launched in 2001, Wikipedia inspired great hope for the democratization of knowledge, but over the years, it has become a battleground over the shaping of narratives on sensitive issues. Hostile actors toward Israel often determine the content frameworks, decide on the admissibility of sources,...
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting: Disseminating the Regime’s Ideology Worldwide
Danny Citrinowicz
INSS Insight No. 2045, October 19, 2025
Recent reports from the United Kingdom and Italy about the involvement of Iran’s PressTV television channel in sophisticated influence operations in those countries attest to the ongoing efforts of Iran’s state propaganda network—operated under the supervision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting—to weaken Western nations and amplify the Iranian narrative within them. The ability to curb Iran’s global influence depends, among other things, on the international community’s capacity to disrupt this elaborate system that Iran...
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Influence Campaign in Egypt
, David Siman-Tov
INSS Insight No. 2039, September 30, 2025
This article examines the influence campaign led by the Muslim Brotherhood against the Egyptian regime since the ouster of President Morsi in 2013. The movement operates satellite television channels, websites, and social media networks, while also relying on affiliate movements and cross-border campaigns, with the aim of destabilizing the regime and encouraging internal unrest and resistance. The influence campaign highlights the regime’s failures in terms of the economy, infrastructure, and human rights, and depicts President...
The ISNAD Campaign in the Israel–Iran War
David Siman-Tov
INSS Insight No. 2028, August 26, 2025
The ISNAD campaign is a sophisticated foreign intervention effort, presented as a grassroots movement aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood. Its objective is to assist Hamas in its war against Israel in the Gaza Strip through extensive influence operations on social media. The campaign employs psychological warfare techniques and the use of fake Israeli profiles to create the impression of authentic internal criticism of the state and to undermine public legitimacy in Israel for the war. Following the outbreak of the war between Israel...
In recent years, and even more so since October 7, Iran has been conducting influence and interference campaigns targeting the Israeli public. These efforts aim to deepen societal divisions and weaken the country from within. Recently, an aggressive Iranian operation was uncovered, designed to recruit Israelis for espionage, terrorism, and to assist Iran in the event of war. The latest revelations about Iran’s long-standing influence and interference operations in the United Kingdom highlight a common ground between Israel and other...
The Trump Administration’s Withdrawal from the Fight Against Foreign Interference—Strategic Implications
David Siman-Tov
INSS Insight No. 2006, July 7, 2025
Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025 signaled dramatic changes in how the United States addresses threats of foreign influence and interference in the digital realm. The administration swiftly moved to dismantle government mechanisms that had been established in previous years to protect the United States from hostile foreign influence. These steps—from the dismissal of senior security officials to the shutdown of dedicated teams in government departments—raise concerns about the West’s overall capacity to...
Influence Operations Against Israeli Economic and Security Interests Abroad
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A special joint publication by the Institute for National Security Studies and the Institute for the Research of the Methodology of Intelligence at the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center, February 2025
This article discusses influence operations aimed at harming Israeli economic and security interests in the international arena, with a focus on two case studies in the United Kingdom and Japan. In both cases, Elbit Systems was targeted for economic and strategic influence and damage. The article describes the operational methods used in the influence operations on social networks, which include coordinating between activist organizations and coordinated inauthentic behavior networks on social media. In addition, it proposes initial...
Foreign Interference and Iranian Influence on Social Networks in Israel
, David Siman-Tov
A Special Publication in cooperation between INSS and the Institute for the Study of Intelligence Methodology at the Israel Intelligence Heritage Commemoration Center (IICC), November 13, 2024
This article addresses the phenomenon of Iranian foreign interference in social media platforms in Israel during the years 2020–2022. Its aim is to examine and characterize the phenomenon, discuss its consequences, and propose policy addressing it. The study reveals that agents of foreign interference in the discourse on Israeli social networks do not favor a certain group or agenda in Israeli society; rather, they aim to deepen the rifts in Israeli society and weaken it. The article begins with a description of the main operations...
Iranian Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference During the Swords of Iron War
, Danny Citrinowicz
A Special Publication in cooperation between INSS and the Institute for the Study of Intelligence Methodology at the Israel Intelligence Heritage Commemoration Center (IICC), November 12, 2024
In recent years, Iranian actors have carried out a range of hostile influence operations as part of the Israeli public discourse, aiming to expand social and political rifts, create political tension and chaos, and encourage demonstrations and distrust of the government and its democratic institutions. Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the Iranian influence operations have focused on issues related to the war and the attempt to sow distrust and demoralization, incite violence against Arab citizens, and deeply penetrate the...
Arabic and English Antisemitism on Social Media Platforms Post-October 7: Analysis on Discourse and Prevention
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Special Publication, November 4, 2024
As the events of Hamas’s attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, unfolded on the ground and across social media, CyberWell’s monitoring technology quickly began to detect a surge of antisemitic content. In the 25 days following October 7, there was an 86% increase compared to the previous 25 days. Alarmingly, CyberWell’s technology also identified a significant shift in the Arabic discourse, moving from promoting traditional stereotypes of Jews, such as secret cabals controlling the world, to advocating for and justifying direct...
Russian Influence in Israel During the War in Gaza
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A Special Publication in cooperation between INSS and the Institute for the Study of Intelligence Methodology at the Israel Intelligence Heritage Commemoration Center (IICC), September 5, 2024
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, Russian agents have been carrying out hostile influence activities against the Israeli public, aimed to undermine public confidence in the actions of the Israeli army and harm the strategic alliance between Israel and the United States. These activities are part of a long-term information warfare that Russia is waging around the world, with the intent of strengthening its standing in the international arena at the expense of the United States and its allies. Russian agents have conducted...
Moving Beyond Cyber-Enabled Influence Operations
A Special Publication in cooperation between INSS and the Institute for the Study of Intelligence Methodology at the Israel Intelligence Heritage Commemoration Center (IICC), August 22, 2024
The emergence of the internet and the rise of cyberspace have led to the development of new methods of projecting power and exerting strategic influence, one of which is offensive cyber operations. This article examines the use of offensive cyber for influence operations in incidents in two case studies in Israel and Albania, which were attributed to Iran. The article includes a theoretical analysis of key concepts in offensive cyber operations and influence operations through cyberspace. It shows how ransomware operations can be...
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