‘Pakistan-based bot networks trying to break US-Israeli alliance,’ claims Israeli PM Netanyahu

Launching a sharp attack amid escalating tensions in West Asia, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Pakistan and several other countries of attempting to weaken the United States-Israel alliance through coordinated online propaganda campaigns, while geopolitical tensions surge surrounding the Israel-Iran conflict.

In an interview with CBS, Netanyahu alleged that several countries were operating organised social media influence campaigns aimed at turning American public opinion against Israel at a time when Washington remains one of Tel Aviv’s strongest strategic allies during the ongoing regional confrontation involving Iran and its proxies.

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“We have several countries that basically manipulated social media with the bot farms with fake addresses, to break the American sympathy to Israel, to break the American-Israeli alliance, because they think it’s in their interest,” Netanyahu said during the interview.

The Israeli Prime Minister further claimed that such campaigns were being carried out in a “clever way” using fake online identities to create the impression of shifting public sentiment inside the United States.

“You hear a text message, ‘I’m a red-blooded Texan. I always supported Israel. But I can’t stand what they’re doing. I’m turning against Israel.’ And then you trace the address to some basement in Pakistan,” Netanyahu said.

His remarks come while Pakistan positions itself as a mediator to ease heightened tensions in the region following the prolonged US-Israel-Iran war, with repeated military escalations. Pakistan has, in recent months, shown itself to have intensified diplomatic outreach on the West Asia crisis and publicly advocated dialogue amid broader regional war involving Israel, Iran and the United States.

Netanyahu’s comments are likely to further strain ties between Israel and Pakistan, which do not share formal diplomatic relations, while also drawing attention to the growing role of information warfare and online influence operations in shaping international narratives during global conflicts.