Israel organised campaign to influence US lawmakers: Report
The New York Times reports that the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs has organised a campaign on social media to influence US lawmakers to support Israel’s actions in its war on Gaza.
Citing unnamed officials and documents, the US newspaper reported that the ministry paid $2m for the campaign and hired Stoic, a political marketing firm in Tel Aviv, to carry it out.
It said the campaign started in October and is still ongoing on X. It used hundreds of fake accounts that posed as real Americans on X, Facebook and Instagram to post pro-Israel comments.
The accounts reportedly targeted US lawmakers, especially those who are Black and Democrat, with posts urging them to continue funding Israel’s military.
Israeli government to call up 50,000 more reservists: Report
According to Israel’s Ynet news site, the government is expected to approve a decision to summon an additional 50,000 reservist soldiers today, increasing their total ranks to 350,000.
The move comes amid heightened tensions along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where Netanyahu says Israel is ready to take “extremely powerful action”.
‘War in the north is likely’
Omar Ashour, a professor of security and military studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, says surging violence near the Israel-Lebanon border could portend a future war between Israel and Hezbollah.
“I think a war in the north is likely but not now because Gaza is not finished yet,” Ashour told Al Jazeera, noting that Israel has for months received more rocket fire from southern Lebanon than from Gaza.
If Israel’s current government remains in place, he predicted conflict along Israel’s northern front could seriously escalate by the end of this year. “It’s a steadily escalating situation with a vision that the north is a threat and needs to be dealt with at some point, perhaps later this year,” Ashour said.
