Israel's Alleged Secret Campaign to Influence US Lawmakers Uncovered

Israel reportedly organized a two million dollar campaign to influence US lawmakers in favor of its Gaza offensive, using fake social media accounts and news sites. Initiated after a deadly Hamas attack, the effort was exposed by FakeReporter and firms like Meta. Though Israel denies involvement, the operation had limited impact with many followers being bots.

Israel is reported to have orchestrated a covert influence campaign targeting US lawmakers to gain support for its military actions in Gaza, according to the New York Times.

Citing unnamed officials and documents, the report claims the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs allocated two million dollars to the effort, hiring Tel Aviv firm Stoic.

Initiated in October after the deadly Hamas attack on Israel, the campaign used fake social media accounts posing as concerned U.S. citizens to sway legislators, particularly Black Democrats.

Posts generated by ChatGPT promoted Israel's stance, while three fake news sites also spread pro-Israel content.

Exposed by the watchdog FakeReporter and companies like Meta and OpenAI, the operation allegedly fell short with most followers being bots.

Israel denied involvement in the campaign.