ISNAD is the name of an Islamist influence campaign operating against Israel in the Hebrew language through hundreds of fake profiles. ISNAD’s Telegram group includes about 50,000 people from all over the Arab world who are given instructions, ideas, and methods of action. The activists in the network flood the social media networks in Israel (mainly X) with toxic messages aimed at strengthening narratives that oppose the war in the Israeli discourse. Although this is apparently an authentic civil campaign, the network defines itself as the digital wing of the “resistance”—Hamas.
The group has infiltrated the public consciousness in Israel with the call to kidnap the prime minister’s wife, which was even discussed in the extended cabinet and the Israeli media (Kan 11, The Marker). It continues with similar attempts to incite violent actions against the branches of government. Over the past few months, civilian officials in Israel have transferred data on the fake profiles to the security establishment and the X platform, and most have been removed. However, the group has managed to recover, and new profiles were opened with different methods, making it difficult to identify them.
In the past week, INSS’s research team with the assistance of the Orthodox Line transferred about 700 fake profiles to X through the Internet Association, and they were removed from the network. Following the latest removal, ISNAD’s activists are frustrated, calling the deletion a “massacre of Hebrew accounts” in their internal discussions. The network’s managers are mobilizing to support the opening of new accounts and to restore the suspended accounts, partially by using AI tools. The exposure of ISNAD by civil society and the reporting of the fake profiles are the main components in response to such activity so far.
ByGSpeech
ISNAD is the name of an Islamist influence campaign operating against Israel in the Hebrew language through hundreds of fake profiles. ISNAD’s Telegram group includes about 50,000 people from all over the Arab world who are given instructions, ideas, and methods of action. The activists in the network flood the social media networks in Israel (mainly X) with toxic messages aimed at strengthening narratives that oppose the war in the Israeli discourse. Although this is apparently an authentic civil campaign, the network defines itself as the digital wing of the “resistance”—Hamas.
The group has infiltrated the public consciousness in Israel with the call to kidnap the prime minister’s wife, which was even discussed in the extended cabinet and the Israeli media (Kan 11, The Marker). It continues with similar attempts to incite violent actions against the branches of government. Over the past few months, civilian officials in Israel have transferred data on the fake profiles to the security establishment and the X platform, and most have been removed. However, the group has managed to recover, and new profiles were opened with different methods, making it difficult to identify them.
In the past week, INSS’s research team with the assistance of the Orthodox Line transferred about 700 fake profiles to X through the Internet Association, and they were removed from the network. Following the latest removal, ISNAD’s activists are frustrated, calling the deletion a “massacre of Hebrew accounts” in their internal discussions. The network’s managers are mobilizing to support the opening of new accounts and to restore the suspended accounts, partially by using AI tools. The exposure of ISNAD by civil society and the reporting of the fake profiles are the main components in response to such activity so far.