An Israeli influence operation named BlackCore allegedly sought to undermine left-wing politicians and shape elections in the UK and US. The Canary previously reported on a joint French/Israeli media investigation into the shadowy outfit. BlackCore is also accused of setting up a bogus Palestine charity.
Now a French domestic security agency is investigating too. Israeli newspaper Haaretz and French outlet Libérationreported on 11 June:
Israeli firm BlackCore, suspected of interfering in France’s local elections in March, is also suspected of meddling in elections in New York City and Scotland, and operating in Angola and Togo, the head of France’s disinformation detection service Viginum said on Thursday.
In a second article covering another aspect of BlackCore’s operations, also published on 11 June, claimed:
A network of fake fitness coaches, Vietnamese bots, Facebook ads aimed at Brits – and a bogus ‘humanitarian fund’ for Gaza. A Haaretz and Libération investigation exposes a digital operation whose infrastructure leads back to BlackCore, the Israeli influence firm under investigation in France.
Various Israeli influence operations have come to light in recent months. One looks at how the Israeli military shapes media reporting of the Gaza genocide. Another examines leaked documents about a military-run course for English and Hebrew speaking influencers.
The fact Israel runs complex influence operations is well-known. Press reporting on the granular details is less common.
Election interference by Israel
Russia and China are often charged with election interference in the west. There’s no doubt both countries run influence operations just like the UK and US. But the new Haaretz report sheds light on how Israel runs its own.
analyzed BlackCore’s digital footprint, uncovered a toolkit of influence-operation systems routed through servers in Britain, Germany, Finland and Lithuania.
Closest to home is the allegation that Israel tried to shape Scottish elections. French security agency Viginum claims:
France’s cybersecurity agency has accused the Israeli tech company BlackCore of interfering in the Scottish elections earlier this year by targeting the first minister, John Swinney.
The disinformation detection agency Viginum said BlackCore had this year used proxy social media accounts to target Swinney, the Scottish National Party, and the Scottish government on four occasions.
Viginum’s head of ‘digital interference’ Sébastien Lecornu said:
This modus operandi was not limited to municipal elections in France. It also appears to have been used to carry out foreign digital interference operations in other countries or regions, such as Angola, Togo, the elections in Scotland, and the 2025 municipal election in New York.
It was previously reported that BlackCore targeted left-wing candidates in Marseille and Toulouse elections.
Brillant added:
Our investigations did not make it possible to identify the sponsor or sponsors, if indeed they exist, behind this foreign digital interference.
BlackCore — Fake Palestinian charity?!
The other part of the Haaretz report verges on the bizarre. It centres on an allegedly fake charity named Sadaqah Palestine, which:
presented itself as a non-governmental, non-political nonprofit helping Palestinian families, children and refugees affected by displacement, poverty and war.
The ‘charity’ had:
a website with a credit card donation form and maintained social media accounts on X, Instagram and Facebook, and even had a paid advertising budget on Meta’s platforms.
it did not have… any verifiable existence. No organization by that name appears in the U.K. charity register, nor in similar U.S., EU and Israeli records offline. Its social media following, our analysis found, was largely manufactured, including seemingly fake accounts.
The charity’s digital footprint leads back to BlackCore, which has been described as:
[an] Israeli “elite influence, cyber and technology” firm.
Researchers described the site as:
a honeypot: a decoy built to attract people who wanted to help – in this case, by aiding Palestinians – and to take donors’ money, their personal data or both.
The cynicism involved is hard to fathom:
The page pitched the fund against the backdrop of the collapse of official humanitarian aid in Gaza, noting that as USAID and UNRWA halted most of their operations, ordinary donors had to step in.
And:
It declares its location as Palestine; X’s own metadata places it in the United Kingdom. In its 13 years of existence, the account has never once “liked” anything.
Followers were also fake: a mix of US-based ‘fitness’ accounts and Vietnamese bots. Researchers traced the page to BlackCore via:
Digital certificates – the public, immutable record created every time a website obtains an encryption authorization.
You can read the full reports on the charity and the election interference here and here. They offer a rare glimpse inside an alleged Israeli influence operation. This is notable of itself. The fact one aspect of this operation was to exploit public goodwill over Palestine is especially grotesque.
Featured image via the Canary
By Joe Glenton
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