Israel Police Say Network of X Accounts Sought to Influence Knesset Election

Israel Police announced on Sunday that they had uncovered a network of accounts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, suspected of attempting to influence the outcome of the upcoming Knesset elections.

The suspicious activity was detected through a joint monitoring operation carried out by the police together with the State Attorney's Office. A number of the accounts were removed in an effort to prevent them from exerting undue influence on the voting decisions of the Israeli public.

Police Commissioner Danny Levy said Sunday that the force had completed extensive preparations aimed at ensuring the security of the elections and maintaining public safety in the wake of the results.

"We will not allow violence, threats, incitement or criminality to harm the will of the voter," Levy said. "I have declared in recent months that we will not allow bullying from any side to harm the democratic process, and so we will."

"Preserving Israeli democracy is our mission," he added. "We will fulfill it impartially and without compromise."

The police announcement followed a similar disclosure on Thursday by the Shin Bet, Israel's security agency, which said that numerous accounts had been removed from social media sites over manipulation efforts. According to the Shin Bet, the activity of the now removed accounts may have allowed for foreign influence on the election.

Concerns about online interference have been building for weeks. In late September, an investigation by Golden Owl, an open source intelligence platform, found that Iran linked actors had been tied to social media accounts on which individuals posed as Israeli citizens and made claims about Israeli politics.

Researchers found that multiple accounts had published posts claiming that the election results would be stolen, while others spread misinformation about the voting process itself.

Together, the moves by the police and the Shin Bet point to a broad effort by Israeli authorities to identify and dismantle coordinated online campaigns ahead of the vote, with officials framing the account removals as part of a wider push to protect the integrity of the democratic process.