Israel Police uncover, remove X accounts accused attempting to influence election

Israel Police exposed a network of accounts on the social media platform X/Twitter suspected of trying to influence the outcome of the upcoming Knesset elections, the police announced on Sunday. 

The suspicious activity was uncovered through a joint monitoring operation by the police and the State Attorney’s Office, and a number of the accounts were removed to prevent them from exerting undue influence on the Israeli public's voting decisions.

Police Commissioner Danny Levy said on Sunday that the police have completed extensive preparations to ensure the security of the elections and public safety in the wake of election results.

“We will not allow violence, threats, incitement or criminality to harm the will of the voter. I have declared in recent months that we will not allow bullying from any side to harm the democratic process, and so we will,” Levy vowed. “Preserving Israeli democracy is our mission. We will fulfill it impartially and without compromise."

On Thursday, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced a similar move in which numerous accounts were removed from social media sites for manipulation efforts. 

According to the Shin Bet, the activity of the now-removed accounts may have allowed for foreign influence on the election.

OSINT investigation found Iran-linked accounts posing as Israelis

In late September, an investigation conducted by open-source intelligence platform Golden Owl found that Iran-linked actors had been tied to social media accounts where individuals posed as Israeli citizens and made claims about Israeli politics.

Researchers found that multiple of the accounts were found to have made posts claiming that the election results would be stolen, and others posted misinformation about the voting process itself.

Danielle Greyman-Kennard and Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.