Israel govt. funded marketing firm run disinformation campaign against adversaries

Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs organized and paid for a digital campaign to influence U.S. lawmakers, especially Democrats who are Black, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The ministry allotted $2 million to the operation in October and hired Stoic, a Tel Aviv-based political marketing and business intelligence firm, to carry it out. Stoic established fake news websites and hundreds of fake accounts on X, Instagram, and Facebook that posted pro-Israeli messages, trying to push lawmakers.

The campaign focused on several members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including Torres, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, and Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia.

The disinformation campaign comes amid other efforts by pro-Israel groups to influence U.S. politics during its assault on Gaza, notably the lobbying and campaign money spent by groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its affiliates.

Recently in June, 2024 OpenAI’s report revealed that STOIC, an Israeli political campaign firm, conducted an operation called ‘Zero Zeno’ to generate anti-BJP and pro-Congress content during the Indian elections, while also commenting on the Gaza conflict. In May, the network began targeting India specifically, criticizing the ruling BJP and praising the opposition Congress party.

Last week, both Meta and OpenAI issued reports on Stoic’s disinformation campaign and said they had blocked the company’s network from further activity. Meta said it had closed more than 500 fake Facebook accounts and OpenAI called Stoic a “for-hire Israeli threat actor,” NBC News reported. Stoic’s users remain active on X, the Times reported.