Diaspora Ministry Says Iranian Fake Accounts Masquerade as Israelis in Influence Campaign

Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism published a special report saying dozens of fake Iranian accounts have been posing as Israeli users and even international news outlets to spread falsehoods, inflate wartime damage, and weaken public resilience in Israel and abroad.

According to the report, the campaign began during the “Rage of the Lion” and “With the Strength of Lion” operations and then expanded further. The main messages pushed claims of high Israeli death tolls, images of destruction, reports of the deaths of senior officials and professionals, a leadership crisis, and mass emigration from Israel. Some of the accounts reportedly gained hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views, comments, and shares, and were even quoted by media outlets around the world.

The ministry said X was the main platform for the operation because it lacks strict control mechanisms, while the scale on Facebook and Instagram was more limited. It also said artificial intelligence was used to create fake visual material and distort reality by blending real footage with inflated data.

The report says the network relied on impersonating soldiers, university employees, and ordinary Israelis, with coordinated profiles reposting one another to appear more credible and make takedowns harder. It also identified newer networks using international-sounding names, including an account called American News, which the ministry said posted hundreds of AI videos depicting destruction in Israel and the United States.

Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli said the findings show a “systematic and coordinated” Iranian attempt to influence public opinion inside Israel through “infiltration into the internal Israeli discourse online.” He said the accounts are meant to undermine trust, create “demoralization,” and deepen social rifts, and added that the exposed material was passed to the relevant security authorities. Director General Avi Cohen Skali said the new effort differs from earlier Iranian disinformation aimed at delegitimizing Israel abroad, because now the goal is to manipulate Israeli public opinion from within.