State comptroller report: Government has no policy to combat foreign interference in elections

A state comptroller’s report on the threat of foreign interference in Israeli elections finds that the government has no national policy to combat the threat, which the report says could harm state sovereignty and undermine public trust in the upcoming election results.

Outgoing State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman says that Iran and other hostile actors are systematically exploiting social media to deepen social divisions in Israel, spread panic and manipulate the public’s perception of reality.

“We found that Israel’s national preparedness is fundamentally inadequate: nine years after the threat was first identified by the state, there is still no national policy, and no government body is leading efforts to address the issue,” says Englman.

He says the threat is even more acute ahead of the upcoming election, a period the state comptroller says provides fertile ground for “malicious activity by foreign actors” that could “influence election outcomes and undermine public confidence in the results.”

Such an outcome is even more likely given the advent of AI tools which allow hostile elements to rapidly create highly credible fictitious identities and fake content on a huge scale, Englman says.

“Without an immediate and organized government response, attempts to interfere in Israel’s domestic public discourse could even lead to harm to the state’s sovereignty and undermine public trust in the democratic process,” says the outgoing state comptroller.

“I wish to raise a [warning] flag: leaving the gaps in addressing foreign influence in the digital sphere unresolved leaves the Israeli public exposed, and demands decisive national action.”