BlackCore and Israel’s War On Reality

Last month, a Haaretz-Libération investigation uncovered systems for building an army of avatars, developed by Israeli company BlackCore, including a smear campaign of a left-wing French candidate and multiple attacks on John Swinney. The French government has now formally requested explanations from Israel regarding the actions attributed to BlackCore. Labour has done nothing.

BlackCore has interfered in elections in Scotland, New York, France, Angola and Togo, using large numbers of fake social media accounts to target politicians who have criticised Israel’s genocide in Gaza, French authorities have found.

Novara Media has written: “France’s disinformation watchdog, Viginum, said a private, Israel-based company named BlackCore had coordinated hundreds of accounts to post negative comments about Scottish first minister John Swinney in the run-up to the Scottish parliament elections in May. Swinney is one of the few UK politicians to have described Israel’s mass killings in Gaza as a genocide, saying last year that “it can’t be disputed”. He also led a ban on arms companies receiving financial aid if they supply Israel’s military. Viginum said Swinney, the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) and the devolved government in Edinburgh were targeted between 6 January and 8 May, with BlackCore using at least 256 coordinated accounts to post around 1,400 comments.”

Ross Greer, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, called on Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to summon the Israeli ambassador over the scandal. “Or will she continue Labour’s tradition of letting them [Israel] away with absolutely anything?” he wrote on Twitter.

Given Yvette Cooper’s funders, I’m not sure that’s going to happen anytime soon.

Remember it was Yvette Cooper who was responsible for having Palestine Action banned in the first place [Yvette Cooper vows to ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws | Protest | The Guardian].

At a press conference on Thursday alongside French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, ​Viginum chief Marc-Antoine Brillant said technical investigations had led them to suspect BlackCore.

The watchdog said BlackCore was suspected of influence operations ​around the world.

“This modus operandi was not limited to municipal elections in France,” he said. “It also appears to have been used to carry out foreign digital interference operations in other countries or regions, such as Angola, Togo, the elections in Scotland, and the 2025 ​municipal election in New York.”

Brillant did not say who had been targeted in last year’s New York City mayoral election, but winner Zohran Mamdani has repeatedly called Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide. Before his election, Mamdani said he would enforce an international arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were he to travel to New York.

Ayse Betul at Middle Easter Eye has covered the story. They point out that Brillant said it was still unclear who had commissioned the Israeli company to meddle in French politics.

“Our investigations did not make it possible ​to identify the sponsor or sponsors, if indeed they exist, behind this foreign digital interference.”

Betul writes: “Last month, French authorities suspected the Israeli firm of orchestrating an online smear campaign against three mayoral candidates from the leftist pro-Palestine France Unbowed party (LFI) in the local election.

“A foreign digital interference campaign, first flagged by Viginum in March, used deceptive websites, social media accounts, and negative digital ads to smear three left-wing mayoral candidates in Marseille, Toulouse, and Roubaix with false criminal allegations, including sexual assault. A joint investigation by Liberation and Haaretz later uncovered the operation’s digital tools on a server linked to BlackCore, and two companies based in Tel Aviv.”

What is Violence?

But, while the French government had asked Israel for explanations on BlackCore’s actions, the British Government has done no such thing. In a week where the Court of Appeal in London has overruled the High Court and upheld the government’s decision to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist group, we live in an absurdist regime which bows to a foreign power rather than supports the civil liberties of its own people.

Why will they do nothing? Well, it’s Scotland and so, who cares? Yes, they will do nothing.

The antipathy towards Scotland is hard-wired and the casual disdain for democracy a feature not a glitch of Starmer’s government. The actions of BlackCore and the inactions of the UK government, riddled with Israeli money, warp and distort reality.

Black ops and disinformation distort reality, but in truth ‘reality’ is already pretty distorted. As George Monbiot writes [The Belfast riots, Palestine Action protests. What is terrorism now – and why the hypocrisy?]:

“…while more than 3,000 people have now been arrested for holding up signs in support of the banned group, and many face terrorism charges, no one in Belfast or Southampton has been charged with terrorist offences. Nor have those who whipped up the riots online. In fact, the latter group hasn’t yet been charged with anything. If you say “I support Palestine Action”, they might put you in jail. If you incite a racist riot, they put you on TV.”

Neil Mackay at the Herald has written: “A UK parliamentary inquiry should be established to investigate the behaviour of Russia, China and Iran. The Israeli firm BlackCore should now also be included.”

He added: “An agency like France’s Viginum should be established so we have a rolling security operation against foreign interference. Any Britons found working for foreign states should face the full force of the law.”

This is all true but it will never happen. The whole affair reveals the stark reality of being tied to the British State. The need for an independent Scotland with an independent foreign policy is more obvious than ever.