A digital 'forever war' on democracy: Iran and Netanyahu both sow chaos online ahead of Israeli elections

With Israeli elections set for October 27, Iran is increasingly pairing its military actions with aggressive online campaigns designed to sow chaos and conflict – alongside ongoing efforts to recruit Israelis as spies, Haaretz cyber and disinformation correspondent Omer Benjakob warned on the Haaretz Election Podcast, in a roundtable with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer and correspondent Linda Dayan.

“We’ve let the digital arena fester,” Benjakob said, in a stinging critique of the way in which Israel’s vaunted security services have dropped the ball in online foreign influence that has now been “supercharged” by AI.

One of the reasons the phenomenon has been difficult to combat is because “nine times out of 10, you can’t differentiate between a pro‑Iranian campaign and a pro‑Netanyahu campaign,” he added, noting that Israel’s prime minister and his far-right ruling coalition and the country’s enemies, he noted, have a stake in maximizing extremism and division in the months leading up to Election Day.

In their review of the week’s political headlines, the Election Podcast panel also discussed U.S. Democratic presidential hopefuls Rahm Emanuel, who addressed Israelis in Tel Aviv last week, and Ro Khanna, who was detained by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the southern West Bank – and the rise of former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot in the polls and the nature of the threat he poses to Netanyahu.

Eisenkot appeals to voters who identify as right-wing and voted Likud in the past, but are seeking a “sane right” this time around, Dayan observed. “He offers a security‑heavy, ‘big Z’ Zionist party” that, unlike Likud, “isn’t embarrassing itself by unleashing very loud but not very content‑rich people onto the public.”

Gadi Eisenkot Is Quietly Gaining Ground Inside Likud Territory. Will It Be Enough to Defeat Netanyahu?

Latest Poll Shows ex-IDF Chief Eisenkot's Party Maintaining Lead Over Netanyahu's Likud

'The IDF Is Lying': Rep. Ro Khanna Calls for Arrest of IDF Soldiers He Says Were Involved in His West Bank Detention

Op-ed by Nadav Weiman: I Joined Rep. Ro Khanna on His West Bank Visit. Here's What I Saw

Rahm Emanuel's Tough Love Wins Warm Welcome in Tel Aviv

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