Israeli ministry says Iran is running a fake-news bot network to sow panic online

A special report by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism says Iran is running an aggressive, sophisticated information campaign aimed at Israeli users. According to the report, dozens of fake accounts impersonating Israelis are spreading fabricated images of destruction made with artificial intelligence, with the goal of undermining public trust, deepening social divisions and creating despair during wartime.

The ministry said the activity expanded significantly during the operations "Raging Lion" and "With the Lion". The Iranian network uses upgraded methods that combine AI tools with impersonation of fighters, university employees and ordinary citizens, while pushing false claims about mass casualties, leadership collapse, invented destruction scenes and supposed mass departures from the country.

The report says the campaign is coordinated through new networks with international-sounding names, including the AI profile "American News," which publishes hundreds of edited videos. These accounts have attracted millions of views and cooperate to boost one another’s credibility, making it harder for platforms and users to detect the manipulation. The ministry said X is the main battleground because of its looser enforcement, while efforts on Facebook and Instagram are more limited.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said, "This is a systematic Iranian attempt to influence public opinion in Israel through infiltration into the internal Israeli discourse." He added that the effort is designed to erode trust, demoralize the public and widen social rifts, but said it would not break Israeli resilience. Ministry Director General Avi Cohen Skuely said the current target is explicitly internal, unlike earlier attempts to delegitimize Israel abroad. The full information was passed to the relevant security bodies, and the ministry urged the public to check sources carefully and avoid sharing suspicious posts.