Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently blamed Pakistan for running a shadow campaign through bot farms and fake social media accounts to weaken US-Israel relations. According to the Israeli Prime Minister, a coordinated information war to weaken the strong alliance between the United States and Israel is being run in several countries, such as Pakistan.

In an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes broadcast on May 10, Netanyahu highlighted what he described as a ‘hidden digital battlefield’ operating parallel to the actual military conflicts Israel is fighting.

The war beyond the battlefield

While discussing the sharp decline in support for Israel among younger Americans, Netanyahu said, “We have several countries that basically manipulated social media with bot farms with fake addresses, to break the American sympathy to Israel, to break the American-Israeli alliance…”

“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,” added Netanyahu.

Israeli PM stressed that this is part of a larger information war. While Israel was fighting on multiple physical fronts, it was “completely exposed on the eighth front, the media war and the social media war.”

Though Netanyahu did not accuse only Pakistan. He said “several countries” are involved in such activities, using Pakistan as a specific and vivid example.

Mediation in the shadow of information warfare

Though Pakistan has no diplomatic relations with Israel and has been vocally critical of Israeli actions in Gaza and recent operations against Iran. It has established itself as the mediator for the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran.

Netanyahu’s assertion adds another layer to the ongoing war over narratives, where social media influence operations have become as important as traditional diplomacy and military strength.