Fake Iranian accounts ‘campaigned for Netanyahu’ ahead of Israeli election

Network of 1,653 X profiles reportedly pushed Israelis to back Likud in coordinated Hebrew posts, then went back to promoting the shah’s son Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks following exit polls in Jerusalem on 28 October (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters) Published date: 6 November 2026 12:34 GMT | Last update: 18 sec ago A network of 1,653 X accounts posing as Iranian users amplified Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s election campaign ahead of last week’s vote, Haaretz reported on Friday. The accounts posted messages in Hebrew urging Israelis to vote for Netanyahu “on behalf of the Iranian people”. The accounts, which claimed to belong to Iranians living in Iran or abroad, appeared to coordinate their activity. Their operators remain unidentified. Activity intensified on election day, when multiple accounts published identical messages and responded to posts in coordinated bursts. Two accounts, for example, shared 109 identical posts, compared with just four expected through organic activity, according to Haaretz’s analysis. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters They also responded simultaneously, or within five minutes of each other, to 232 posts by 53 different accounts. On election morning, two accounts posted the same Hebrew message about an hour apart: “We call on you to support Benjamin Netanyahu to finish the job”, accompanied by the hashtag #IsraeliElections2026. “Tomorrow, vote only for the Likud party,” one account wrote in response to a Netanyahu post at 10pm on the eve of the election. “Vote for Benjamin Netanyahu,” another posted twice within two minutes after midnight. “Dear people of Israel, if you want to be protected from the Islamic Republic and the Axis of Resistance, vote,” read another message, published in Hebrew and English at around 2am. Haaretz reported that the findings were based on research by Expose, a social media monitoring company that specialises in tracking digital influence operations and disinformation. The investigation follows an earlier Haaretz report that found accounts previously linked to an influence campaign targeting Iran’s government had begun engaging with Israel’s election campaign and amplifying Netanyahu’s videos. Israel’s Netanyahu accused of attempting coup after election defeat Read More » The Brandeis Institute and FakeReporter subsequently filed a petition with the Central Elections Committee over the accounts identified in the investigation. Expose found that around 1,600 of the accounts had been identified last year as part of an influence operation promoting Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah, who was overthrown in 1979, as an alternative to the Iranian government. As Israel’s election campaign gathered pace in July, 185 of these accounts began interacting with Netanyahu’s social media profiles, including by sharing posts attacking his political opponents. According to Haaretz, the network returned to its usual focus on Pahlavi after the election concluded last week. Some of the findings were submitted to the Central Elections Committee in October as expert evidence in a petition brought by the Brandeis Institute and FakeReporter against Netanyahu, Likud and the Prime Minister’s Office. The committee’s chairman, Judge Noam Solberg, rejected the petition on the eve of the election. Solberg ruled that the network’s activity was subject to election advertising transparency requirements and appeared, on the face of it, to violate the law. However, he said the committee could not reach a definitive ruling because the identities of those operating the accounts were unknown. He ordered the evidence to be referred to the police. In response to the investigation published in October, the Prime Minister’s Office and Likud denied any connection to the accounts. Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.