Likud Admits to Spreading Anti-Lieberman Text Messages After Initial Denial
Translated & summarized from N12 by baba
The Likud party admitted to distributing thousands of text messages with negative content about Avigdor Lieberman after initially denying it. An investigation by FakeReporter identified the Likud as the source, leading to the party's confession in response to a petition. The messages, sent in Russian, linked to a website critical of Lieberman, though the Likud denies any connection to the site itself.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- The Likud party admitted to distributing thousands of negative text messages about Avigdor Lieberman.
- An investigation by FakeReporter initially identified the Likud as the source of the messages.
- The party denied involvement before admitting its role in response to a petition.
- The messages linked to a website critical of Lieberman, prompting a police complaint from Yisrael Beiteinu.
- The Likud denies any connection to the website the messages directed recipients to.
The Likud party has admitted to distributing thousands of text messages containing links to a website with negative content about Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman. Initially, the source of the messages was unknown, but an investigation by FakeReporter revealed the Likud party was responsible. The party initially denied involvement but has now acknowledged its role.
The admission came in response to a petition filed with the Central Elections Committee. Dmitry Gendelman, the Likud's Russian-language campaign manager, stated that the ruling party was behind the distribution of the messages. However, the Likud continues to deny any connection to the website itself, liberman.live, asserting they have no knowledge of its creation or operation.
The text messages, sent in Russian, reportedly asked how a person with Lieberman's alleged reputation could consider running for Prime Minister of Israel, and included a link to the website. FakeReporter's investigation also suggested that the distribution of these messages may violate election law, which requires disclosure of the advertiser's identity and the entity on whose behalf they are acting.
Prior to the investigation's publication, Yisrael Beiteinu had announced it filed a complaint with the police and approached the Central Elections Committee regarding the text message campaign.
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