Comptroller Warns Israel Lacks Iran Election-Meddling Defense
Published
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said Israel still has no national policy or designated government body to coordinate action against foreign online influence campaigns, nine years after the threat was identified. The July 7 reports say the audit reviewed activity from July 2024 to January 2026 across the Prime Minister's Office, National Security Council, Shin Bet, Israel National Cyber Directorate, Central Elections Committee and cyber prosecution unit. Englman warned that hostile actors, including Iran, use social networks covertly to deepen divisions, spread panic and shape Israelis' view of reality ahead of an election year. Hebrew reports cited the Isnad campaign and anti-Israel narratives tied to the Gaza war.
Israel Elections 2026: date, polls and results
Sources
Difference in reporting
Sources factually disagree on the scale of the Isnad fake-profile network: Jerusalem Post and Mako report 300 to 1,000 fake X accounts; Hidabroot reports about 300,000 profiles. The remaining facts are uniform: the State Comptroller report says Israel lacks a national policy or coordinating government body for foreign online influence campaigns, hostile actors including Iran exploit social networks to deepen divisions and shape perceptions, and the election period heightens the risk.
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