AHEAD OF ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial address to Congress, a coalition of more than 30 human rights and faith-based advocacy groups sent a letter on Wednesday urging the U.S. government to investigate several media reports that the Israeli government has been operating a social media influence scheme to sway American lawmakers toward pro-Israeli policies.
The letter, addressed to President Joe Biden, references reporting from the New York Times, The Guardian, and Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which, in separate investigations, uncovered an Israeli influence campaign that used fake accounts to pose as Americans in order to disparage pro-Palestinian groups with “deeply Islamophobic and anti-immigrant content,” target student groups and human rights organizations who were critical of Israel, and post pro-Israel content online. The campaign was designed to persuade lawmakers to continue providing military aid to Israel for its war on Gaza and focused on Black Democratic members of Congress. ….more
