Propaganda expert warns. "Massive actions of pro‑Russian trolls"
2:21 AM EDT, October 8, 2023
In relation to the situation in Israel, the Russian propaganda apparatus is particularly active - warns Michał Marek. "Russian and pro-Russian sources are trying to connect the situation with themes related to Ukraine" - he notes.
Hamas is attacking Israel. Missiles fired from the Gaza Strip continue to fall on the south and center of the country. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the country is in a state of war. The operation codenamed "Iron Swords" has started against the terrorists. Israel is deciding on full-scale retaliation. The Israeli Security Council has approved a ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
There are more and more pictures and videos appearing on social media that show what's happening on the streets of Israel. Michał Marek warns about the information appearing on social media.
"You can already see the first signs of actions."
The expert assesses that among other things, "an increased amount of false and manipulated messages will appear in the Polish infosphere today." "Messages are being disseminated among other things, claiming that the Palestinians supposedly use NATO weapons received from Ukraine... Russians also compare crimes committed by Palestinians on civilians to the 'crimes of Ukrainians' supposedly committed on the front-line population," writes Michał Marek.
He notes that Russian-speaking sources (mainly on Telegram, which is also popular in Israel) want to incite hatred among the population in Israel.
"After the Russian propaganda machine, we can expect mass actions in the realm of inciting hatred and desire for revenge in Israel against the Palestinian population. Moscow will use this conflict to strengthen the processes of radicalizing society," explains the expert.
"There are already signs of actions that exploit the given situation to strengthen the anti-Ukrainian/pro-Russian sentiments among the Israeli population (related to the context of the war in Ukraine - building false analogies) which aims to permanently block the possibility of Israel providing support to Ukraine (also diplomatic), and to direct the Israeli authorities completely towards a pro-Russian course" - summarizes Michał Marek.
