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US Leaders Dodge Questions About Israel’s Influence Campaign
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has joined US intelligence officials in ignoring repeated inquiries about Israel’s “malign” efforts to covertly influence US voters.
With the exception of the White House’s National Security Council, which claimed Thursday to have no knowledge of the operation, and Senate Intelligence chairman Mark Warner, whose office told WIRED it planned to request a briefing on the matter, press inquiries concerning Israel’s attempts to secretly influence US opinion on the war have been met with a stonewall. A US intelligence assessment published in February that identified threats from foreign countries accused of launching malign influence operations against the US references Israel dozens of times; however, it strictly portrays the Middle East ally as the victim of such campaigns. The revelation of Israel’s involvement follows months of hearings in Washington concerning the impact of what US intelligence calls “malign foreign influence campaigns.” Much of the focus by lawmakers centered on allegations that China might potentially manipulate TikTok to sway public opinion in the US.
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