French Report Alleges Israeli Accounts Spread 'False' Messages During Riots

A French Foreign Ministry report has accused Israeli-linked social media accounts of disseminating "false" messages that fueled the recent riots in France. The internal document, obtained by Reuters, alleges that these accounts, including those of senior officials, government entities, and influencers, promoted a narrative linking the unrest to immigration and radical Islam, contrary to the French government's official stance that the protests were driven by the cost of living. The report highlighted that the top ten most viewed posts from Israeli accounts on X (formerly Twitter) between October 16-18 garnered over 35 million views, significantly more than pro-Russian accounts which received 2.8 million views in the same period.

While the report did not identify specific Israeli accounts, French media pointed to statements made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu had linked the riots to Hamas, suggesting that if Hamas was not stopped in Israel, "you will see them in the streets of Paris," a statement French President Emmanuel Macron deemed "unacceptable and foolish." The report also noted accounts identified as French but operating from Israel.

In parallel, a separate European Union report identified significant Russian involvement in spreading disinformation during the riots. This Russian network, dubbed "Operation Overload," allegedly disseminated fabricated videos disguised as authentic Western media reports, including false claims about immigrants committing assaults and impending terror attacks. The EU report emphasized that while Russia exploited the existing unrest, there was no evidence of Russian government initiation or escalation of the protests.

The French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, stated in an interview that approximately two-thirds of social media content linking the protests to immigration originated from outside France, implicating actors from Israel, the United States, Russia, and sometimes China in attempting to distort events and damage France's image. The French government maintains that the protests stemmed from economic grievances, not immigration issues.

The French report also noted that the top ten posts from accounts associated with the American MAGA movement garnered over 49 million views. One specific instance cited involved an AI-generated image presented as documentation of the riots, posted by an account identifying as French but living in Israel, which accused the French president and the far-left of turning the country into a war zone and received approximately 6.1 million views.