Canada confirms 'elements' of alleged Israeli disinformation campaign targeting politicians – National

The Canadian government says it has corroborated “elements” of an alleged Israeli disinformation campaign targeting politicians and citizens about the ongoing crisis in Gaza.

Global Affairs Canada said it was aware of “reports of a controversial, coordinated, Islamophobic and inauthentic information campaign” targeting Canadians and Canadian politicians.

The Foreign Ministry indicated no direct links with the Israeli government.

But the ministry said the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), a division created to combat online disinformation and foreign interference, was investigating.

“While investigations are still ongoing, RRM Canada has been able to corroborate elements of these claims,” said James Emmanuel Wanki, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“At this time, RRM Canada has not been able to decisively attribute this network to a state actor. »

Haaretz, a major Israeli newspaper, and the New York Times both reported last week that the Israeli government was behind a social media campaign aimed at influencing Canadian and American politicians on the Gaza conflict.

Although it did not have definitive proof that the Israeli government was behind the campaign, Global Affairs said the Canadian government had “expressed our concerns regarding these allegations directly to the Israeli government.”

A request for comment to the Israeli embassy in Ottawa was not returned by press time Tuesday.

Haaretz reported on June 5 that the Israeli government was behind a “large-scale influence campaign aimed primarily at black lawmakers and young progressives in the United States and Canada.”

The aim, the newspaper said, was to influence public opinion on Israeli conduct of the conflict, which the United Nations says has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians since October 2023.

The same day, the New York Times, reporting from Tel Aviv, reported that the Israeli government had funded an “influence campaign” targeting both politicians and citizens of the United States “aimed at fostering support for its actions in the war in Gaza.

The newspaper, citing both the officials involved and the documents, reported that the campaign was “commissioned by the Israeli Diaspora Ministry” at a cost of approximately $2 million. According to the Times, the government hired Stoic, a Tel Aviv marketing company, to run the campaign.

Canada is currently embroiled in a debate over foreign interference. But the conversation has largely focused on countries generally considered “hostile” to Canada – such as China, Russia, Iran and, more recently, India.

Israel is a close ally of Canada's security partners, particularly the United States. Like most strategic partners, this issue does not typically appear in official conversations about foreign interference.

The fact that Global Affairs raised its “concerns” directly with the Israeli government is significant.

In response to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel, the Israeli government waged a months-long campaign in the name of rescuing the hostages captured that day and degrading the Hamas' capacity to operate in the country. territory.

Hamas' health ministry in Gaza estimates that 36,000 Palestinians were killed in the resulting conflict, but does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The UN estimates that around 1.7 million people have been displaced within Gaza and that 1.1 million of them are at risk of starvation.

The conflict has become a political flashpoint in the United States and Canada – both allies of Israel, a key strategic partner in the region and a major domestic political concern. The conflict has sparked camp protests on major university campuses in both countries, as well as sometimes violent reactions from police.

According to a February poll by the Angus Reid Institute, half of Canadians think the Israeli military offensive in Gaza has been “too brutal.” Support for Israel's continuation of the conflict has declined, according to the poll, with 33 percent of Canadians saying their sympathies are “about equal” between the two sides.

The conflict has become an important issue for President Joe Biden.

A March Gallup poll found that only 36% of Americans support Israeli military actions in Gaza, down from 50% in November 2023, immediately after the Hamas attack.

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