Iran is playing an active role in the domestic conflict in Israel between the government and the opposition over the coup plan against the ruling system and the judiciary, according to well-informed sources.
However, the Israeli government underestimates Iran’s role and refuses to place it in an advanced position on the list of social and national security threats.
Senior researcher David Siman-Tov said this threat emerged in 2016 during the US presidential election and exists in Israel, even though it has yet to be recognized as a significant threat to national security.
He indicated that the information mainly comes from the public, which is the primary victim of interference and influence attempts in a malicious way.
Several foreign-influence networks, working on behalf of Iran, have operated in Israel in recent months against the backdrop of the Israeli government’s proposed judicial overhaul and the widespread public protest.
The parties behind these networks, on both sides of the political spectrum, aim to undermine Israel’s social resilience.
The phenomenon reveals how well Iran grasps Israel’s internal rifts and understands ways to deepen them.
Alongside the inciteful discourse, the people operating these media seek to influence the real world by popularizing posters and sending followers to conduct various surveillance missions, including taking photographs, following people, and making announcements from loudspeakers mounted on cars.
The activity on social media aims to deepen the polarization in Israeli society.
Among the groups operating on social media are the Hunters and No Voice. In the first quarter of 2023, they began working on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Telegram.
The Hunters defined its goals as “bolstering the unity and strength of the people of Israel,” and those running it asked followers to identify people protesting against the judicial reform and disclose their personal information, with the stated goal of “establishing a country without traitors” and “confronting the anarchists.”
In addition, the people operating the network tried to persuade supporters of the judicial overhaul to print and distribute banners at demonstrations.
They also consulted with supporters about the suitability and quality of the banners and tried to find press photographers to report from demonstrations. A similar operation pattern is familiar from protests outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem in 2020 and 2021.
Moreover, the people operating this network asked members of the group to divulge their full personal details and declare, using a survey and questionnaires, how they are willing to help the struggle.
The Trial of Traitors group began operating in June 2023 on Twitter, with more than 2,000 followers, and Telegram, with more than 3,000 subscribers, masquerading as an anti-judicial overhaul organization and disseminating fictitious calls to attack police officers at demonstrations.
The groups distributed photographs of acts of violence by police officers and their personal information as part of a shaming campaign.
Group administrators encouraged their followers to forward the photographs to other users. The group was identified as inauthentic and reported to the security establishment, and was subsequently removed from Telegram.
Israel’s suspicion that the operators of these groups were connected to Iran is based on the messages’ many Hebrew spelling and grammatical errors, their use of stolen photographs and identities, and the suspicious internet activity associated with the accounts.
The Israeli public, aware of foreign influence efforts on social media, could successfully expose them. However, an analysis of these groups shows that the domestic and external discourses have mingled.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, for example, amplified a campaign that was disseminated by Trial of Traitors that claimed that opponents of the judicial overhaul are trying to intimidate police officers and prevent them from carrying out their duty.
At the same time, the Israel Police issued a statement saying that it was highly likely that the campaign was the initiative of a foreign state.
