Israel’s merciless cyber war on social networks











Israel is waging a merciless battle on social networks. Organizations that advocate a boycott of the Hebrew state, but also individuals, are in its sights.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is first and foremost a human war. With the Israeli army on the one hand and Palestinian organizations on the other. But another battle is being fought. This one on social networks. In this context it is often more difficult to know who scores points and who loses from these clashes in this virtual world.

For a very long time Israel ignored this front. But for some time now the Hebrew state has been scanning social networks and trying to react in real time. And it was the Ministry of Strategic Affairs that was in charge of the file.

Twenty-two Hamas and Hezbollah accounts blocked

Twitter blocked 22 accounts of Hamas and Hezbollah at Israel’s request for an apology for terrorism on Monday, December 24. An account – that of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh – has also been blocked. The social networking giant says it suspended more than 205,000 accounts in the first half of 2018. Mostly as a result of complaints from Israel.

But some of these accounts are blocked only in the Hebrew state. They are still active in other countries. These facts highlight the battle on the net waged by Israeli officials. A fierce battle is also being waged on other social networks, including the best known ones like Facebook and Youtube.

Other cyber-fighting tools

Special units of the Israeli army and police are permanently on the lookout for social networks. In particular a unit of young hackers, the famous 8,200 unit of Israeli military intelligence. When a commando was caught in the middle of the Gaza Strip recently, their names were released on the Internet despite Israeli censorship. But a few hours later, as if by magic, they had disappeared from the networks. Messages encouraging “lone wolves” to take action are also in the sights of these special units.

Thanks to a tight network of algorithms, as many as 1,100 Palestinians with no known political affiliation were arrested in 2017 or warned by the Shin Beth, the internal security service. They were planning to commit knife or ram car attacks.

An Internet censorship law?

The Knesset voted to dissolve it on Wednesday, December 26. Before this vote, several right-wing MPs tried to pass an Internet censorship law under the guise of protecting children from pornographic sites. This law should give the Israeli authorities the tools to monitor as closely as possible what is being done and said on social networks.



