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The British government is refusing to disclose information on how an Israeli “information warfare” firm targeted Scotland’s pro-Palestine first minister. Nobody’s saying who ordered the operation, but a trail of clues leads through Africa to Tel Aviv.

The operation was revealed in June by Viginum, a division of France’s DGSI domestic intelligence agency focused on combatting foreign interference. According to Viginum’s report, an Israeli private “information warfare” firm called BlackCore interfered in mayoral elections in France, parliamentary elections in Scotland, and the mayoral election in New York City, all of which took place between March and June of this year.

RT already covered the French plot in our ‘Wired for War’ series, and BlackCore’s activity in Scotland followed a similar playbook. At least 256 accounts were created to spread disparaging information about First Minister John Swinney, a vocal supporter of Palestine who has publicly stated that “a genocide is unfolding in Gaza as a result of Israel’s actions,” banned public funding to Israeli-linked companies, and called on the British government to recognize the State of Palestine.

The British government has refused two separate Freedom of Information requests filed by The National, a Scottish newspaper. In one response, the government said it would not disclose any information it had on BlackCore, as to do so would “prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and any other state,” The National reported on August 11. In a second response, it explained that the request was denied in order to “avoid giving offence to other nations and retain the trust of our international partners.”

The other state referenced here is evidently Israel.

Is BlackCore an Israeli intelligence cutout?

Little is known about BlackCore. The company scrubbed its online presence immediately after the Viginum report was published, but according to archived material from its website, BlackCore is “an elite influence, cyber, and technology company built for the modern era of information warfare.” It specializes in “shap[ing] narratives” and “influenc[ing] perceptions” for clients in politics and government, and supposedly has been operating for 15 years.

According to an investigation by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, the company is not registered anywhere in the world, but shares web infrastructure with two companies founded by tech entrepreneur Guy Geyor and lawyer Doron Afik. Both of these firms employ veterans of Israeli intelligence agencies, including one former member of the Israel Defense Forces’ Unit 8200.

BlackCore hires Israeli spies and targets Israel’s opponents, but so far, claims that the company takes its orders from the Israeli state are the stuff of conjecture – no matter how obvious they seem. At a press conference in June, Viginum chief Marc-Antoine Brillant said “our investigations did not make it possible ​to identify the sponsor or sponsors, if indeed they exist, behind this foreign digital interference.”

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said France has demanded information on BlackCore from the Israeli government. However, it is unclear whether Israel has responded.

The Africa connection

BlackCore’s operations went beyond the US and Europe. In the course of their investigation, Vigilum agents discovered that some of the same social media accounts used to spread falsehoods about three left-wing candidates in France were used to spread content promoting Angola’s ruling MPLA movement. The accounts switched their usernames from French to Portuguese to reach Angola’s Portuguese-speaking population, but forgot to switch languages in some cases, continuing to post in French.

Investigators found a BlackCore-associated web address – ‘angola-plan.blackcore.online’ – which detailed a four-week training program that the company provided to the Angolan government in February. The program covered “communicating positive government campaigns” and “social media operations.”

BlackCore was also tied to a project called ‘Politizando Angola’ on multiple social media platforms, and a TikTok account called ‘Deep Dive Africa’. Both accounts use the same branding, and are linked by phone number to a fake Islamic charity that BlackCore used in its French and Scottish operations.

‘Deep Dive Africa’ promoted an Israeli medical mission to Togo in February. A humanitarian project of the Sheba Medical Center, the mission was in no way connected with BlackCore’s election operations. However, the Sheba Medical Center is entirely funded by the Israeli state, meaning BlackCore was using the same web infrastructure to carry out ‘information warfare” in some countries, and state-backed soft power operations in others.

All roads lead to Israel

The hospital post is not a smoking gun. Rather, it is an example of how every detail in the BlackCore story is another thread leading back to Tel Aviv. The same pattern is borne out across the growing sphere of Israeli private intelligence agencies and cyberwarfare companies: ‘former’ Israeli spies working in the private sector, almost exclusively to advance Israeli interests, often with the tacit backing of the Israeli government.

The Viginum report is the only comprehensive account of BlackCore’s activity that has been made public. Whatever information the British are withholding is apparently so damning that to release it would seriously damage the UK’s relations with Israel. As such, the chances of Israel revealing any details to the French are slim to none, and Benjamin Netanyahu’s security establishment has likely made sure that any undiscovered evidence has long been scrubbed from the internet.

While it is understandable that Israel would seek to wash its hands of any involvement in foreign interference, the fact that the UK would trade political capital to protect Israel’s reputation – after the EU also refused to investigate Israeli election meddling in Slovenia and Cyprus – raises another uncomfortable question: just how much influence does one Middle Eastern state have on the leaders of Europe?