Diaspora Affairs Ministry behind influence op. to target US lawmakers - NYT report

Israel's Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism Ministry financed and planned an influence operation to target US lawmakers and the general US public, according to a New York Times report on Wednesday.

NYT reported that the Diaspora Affairs & Combatting Antisemitism Ministry, responsible for connecting global Jewish communities with Israel, allocated around $2 million to this effort. According to the report, the ministry engaged Stoic, a political marketing firm based in Tel Aviv, to conduct the campaign, which began in October and remains active on the social media platform X.

Using hundreds of fake accounts designed to appear as real Americans, the campaign posted pro-Israel comments on X, Facebook, and Instagram, the report claims. The posts targeted US lawmakers, particularly Black Democrats such as Representative Hakeem Jeffries and Senator Raphael Warnock, encouraging them to sustain military funding for Israel. ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot, allegedly generated many of these posts, adding to their perceived authenticity.

Beyond social media posts, the report claimed that the campaign created three fake English-language news sites that published pro-Israel articles. These articles were then promoted on platforms like Reddit through fake accounts. Despite this approach, the operation struggled to achieve a significant impact.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, noted that many of the account’s followers were likely bots, limiting their real-world influence. Meta removed over 500 accounts, pages, and groups associated with the campaign, while OpenAI identified and disrupted Stoic’s efforts.

The Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism Ministry operation is alleged to be the first documented case of an Israeli government-backed operation aimed at influencing US politics. While similar operations by countries such as Iran, North Korea, China, Russia, and the United States are not uncommon, they typically mask their involvement through third-party entities or private firms.

Diaspora Affairs Ministry responds

The Diaspora Affairs Ministry subsequently provided the Jerusalem Post with a statement responding to the NYT report.

"The Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism Ministry is not engaging in disinformation campaigns," the ministry said. "Any claim of a connection between the ministry and the company 'Stoic' is baseless."

Despite the denial, NYT claimed to have confirmed the campaign’s organization and execution through multiple sources and documents.