Israeli Firm Accused of Launching Smear Campaigns During US, European Elections

An Israeli firm is suspected of orchestrating smear campaigns to undermine left-wing and pro-Palestine candidates in Scotland, New York, and France.

On Thursday, France’s disinformation detection service Viginum said that BlackCore, an Israeli tech company, targeted candidates in several countries’ elections — including in New York City’s 2025 mayoral election won by Zohran Mamdani.

Among those targeted was Scotland’s first minister John Swinney during his 2024 election campaign. Viginum identified hundreds of fake social media accounts that generated over 1,400 coordinated comments targeting Swinney and the Scottish National Party (SNP). The fake accounts particularly targeted his statements on Gaza. Before his election, Swinney had said that the situation in Gaza was a “man-made humanitarian catastrophe”; he has since called it a genocide.

Last month, Reuters revealed that French authorities suspected BlackCore of orchestrating an online smear campaign against mayoral candidates in La France Insoumise (LFI), or France Unbowed, in France’s local elections in March. LFI is a far left political party led by Melenchon, who has called Israel’s war on Gaza a “planned genocide.” Haaretz and the French daily Libération also investigated BlackCore’s online activity and found that the firm was behind what they called a disinformation campaign against the LFI candidates.

LFI’s platform emphasized opposing austerity measures, caps to rent, and policies to tackle the housing crisis, in addition to Palestine solidarity. LFI’s media platform said that “Once elected, France Unbowed candidates in the municipal elections will twin their municipalities with Palestinian cities or refugee camps” and that this “will build solidarity with the Palestinian people, stand against genocide, and contribute to their freedom and independence.”

BlackCore is now subject to two investigations in France, one by Paris prosecutors and a second by Viginum.

“This ⁠modus operandi was not limited to municipal elections in France,” Viginum chief Marc-Antoine Brillant said at a press conference on Thursday. “It also appears to ⁠have been used to carry out foreign digital interference operations in other countries or ⁠regions, such as Angola, Togo, the elections in Scotland, and ⁠the 2025 municipal election in New York.”

He did not elaborate on the case of New York, though more information may emerge.

Viginum is still attempting to identify who may have sponsored the smear campaigns.

Since the investigations began, BlackCore erased its own online presence. It previously described itself as “an elite influencer, cyber, and technology campaign built for the modern era of information warfare.” It also claimed that it provided governments with “cutting-edge strategies, advanced tools, and robust security to shape narratives.”

It is noteworthy that despite the smear campaigns, the left-wing candidates who voiced support for Palestine won the elections in Scotland and New York, and France’s left-wing party has also been increasingly popular. While smears equating Palestine solidarity with antisemitism may have worked to thwart elections in 2019 – as in the case of Jeremy Corbyn in the U.K. – the same smears do not seem to be effective today.