{"id":448,"date":"2026-06-12T19:07:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T19:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448"},"modified":"2026-06-12T19:07:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T19:07:02","slug":"israeli-firm-accused-of-launching-smear-campaigns-during-us-european-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448","title":{"rendered":"Israeli Firm Accused of Launching Smear Campaigns During US, European Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n

Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a <\/span><\/i>quick donation<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more New Billionaire Jared Kushner Is Mired in Conflicts of Interest as \u201cPeace Envoy\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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

On Thursday, France\u2019s disinformation detection service Viginum said that BlackCore, an Israeli tech company, targeted candidates in several countries\u2019 elections \u2014 including in New York City\u2019s 2025 mayoral election won by Zohran Mamdani. <\/p>\n

Among those targeted was Scotland\u2019s 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 \u201cman-made humanitarian catastrophe\u201d; he has since called it a genocide. <\/p>\n

Last month, Reuters<\/em> 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\u2019s local elections in March. LFI is a far left political party led by Melenchon, who has called Israel\u2019s war on Gaza a \u201cplanned genocide.\u201d Haaretz<\/em> and the French daily Lib\u00e9ration<\/em> also investigated BlackCore\u2019s online activity and found that the firm was behind what they called a disinformation campaign against the LFI candidates. <\/p>\n

LFI\u2019s platform emphasized opposing austerity measures, caps to rent, and policies to tackle the housing crisis, in addition to Palestine solidarity. LFI\u2019s media platform said that \u201cOnce elected, France Unbowed candidates in the municipal elections will twin their municipalities with Palestinian cities or refugee camps\u201d and that this \u201cwill build solidarity with the Palestinian people, stand against genocide, and contribute to their freedom and independence.\u201d <\/p>\n

BlackCore is now subject to two investigations in France, one by Paris prosecutors and a second by Viginum. <\/p>\n

Read more Rubio Signs Sports Diplomacy Deal With UFC Ahead of Weekend Fight at White House<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis \u2060modus operandi was not limited to municipal elections in France,\u201d Viginum chief Marc-Antoine Brillant said at a press conference on Thursday. \u201cIt also appears to \u2060have been used to carry out foreign digital interference operations in other countries or \u2060regions, such as Angola, Togo, the elections in Scotland, and \u2060the 2025 municipal election in New York.\u201d <\/p>\n

He did not elaborate on the case of New York, though more information may emerge. <\/p>\n

Viginum is still attempting to identify who may have sponsored the smear campaigns. <\/p>\n

Since the investigations began, BlackCore erased its own online presence. It previously described itself as \u201can elite influencer, cyber, and technology campaign built for the modern era of information warfare.\u201d It also claimed that it provided governments with \u201ccutting-edge strategies, advanced tools, and robust security to shape narratives.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\u2019s left-wing party has also been increasingly popular. While smears equating Palestine solidarity with antisemitism may have worked to thwart elections in 2019 \u2013 as in the case of Jeremy Corbyn in the U.K. \u2013 the same smears do not seem to be effective today. <\/p>\n

Read more Conservation Groups Sue to Block SpaceX Land Deal in Texas Wildlife Refuge<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The smear campaigns reportedly targeted left-wing and pro-Palestine candidates in Scotland, New York, and France.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nIsraeli Firm Accused of Launching Smear Campaigns During US, European Elections - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Israeli Firm Accused of Launching Smear Campaigns During US, European Elections - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The smear campaigns reportedly targeted left-wing and pro-Palestine candidates in Scotland, New York, and France.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T19:07:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=448#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=448\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"Israeli Firm Accused of Launching Smear Campaigns During US, European Elections\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T19:07:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=448\"},\"wordCount\":568,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=448#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fa9a4ff09d8a67e01dc719a303483fd7.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=448#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=448\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=448\",\"name\":\"Israeli Firm Accused of Launching Smear Campaigns During US, European Elections - Smart Moving Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=448#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=448#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fa9a4ff09d8a67e01dc719a303483fd7.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T19:07:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=448#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=448\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=448#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fa9a4ff09d8a67e01dc719a303483fd7.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fa9a4ff09d8a67e01dc719a303483fd7.jpg\",\"width\":2400,\"height\":1600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=448#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Israeli Firm Accused of Launching Smear Campaigns During US, European Elections\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Smart Moving Home\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Israeli Firm Accused of Launching Smear Campaigns During US, European Elections - Smart Moving Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Israeli Firm Accused of Launching Smear Campaigns During US, European Elections - Smart Moving Home","og_description":"The smear campaigns reportedly targeted left-wing and pro-Palestine candidates in Scotland, New York, and France.","og_url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448","og_site_name":"Smart Moving Home","article_published_time":"2026-06-12T19:07:02+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"headline":"Israeli Firm Accused of Launching Smear Campaigns During US, European Elections","datePublished":"2026-06-12T19:07:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448"},"wordCount":568,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fa9a4ff09d8a67e01dc719a303483fd7.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448","name":"Israeli Firm Accused of Launching Smear Campaigns During US, European Elections - Smart Moving Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fa9a4ff09d8a67e01dc719a303483fd7.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-12T19:07:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fa9a4ff09d8a67e01dc719a303483fd7.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fa9a4ff09d8a67e01dc719a303483fd7.jpg","width":2400,"height":1600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=448#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Israeli Firm Accused of Launching Smear Campaigns During US, European Elections"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/","name":"Smart Moving Home","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/smartmovinghome.com"],"url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}