Israeli cyber firm BlackCore accused of meddling in elections across multiple continents

• French disinformation agency Viginum has accused Israeli cyber firm BlackCore of interfering in municipal elections in France, New York City, Scotland, Angola and Togo.
• BlackCore allegedly targeted pro-Palestinian political candidates, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Scottish First Minister John Swinney.
• French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has formally requested explanations from Israel regarding BlackCore’s operations.
• BlackCore described itself as an “elite influence, cyber and technology company” before removing its online presence after media scrutiny.
• The allegations come amid deteriorating France-Israel relations over Israeli military operations in Lebanon and Gaza.

French investigation reveals global cyber campaign

French authorities have uncovered evidence that an Israeli cyber company suspected of interfering in France’s March local elections also meddled in votes in New York City and Scotland while running operations in two African nations, officials announced Thursday.

The revelation marks a significant escalation in international concerns about foreign digital interference and raises questions about the extent of Israeli-linked cyber operations targeting pro-Palestinian political figures worldwide.

Marc-Antoine Brillant, head of France’s government disinformation detection agency Viginum, told a press conference that technical analysis linked Tel Aviv-based BlackCore to digital interference campaigns across multiple continents.

“This modus operandi was not limited to municipal elections in France,” Brillant 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.”

Targeted elections and candidates

The investigation identified BlackCore-linked accounts targeting John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, who has described Israel’s Gaza campaign as a “man-made humanitarian catastrophe” and suggested genocide may be occurring in the Palestinian enclave.

Regarding New York, Brillant did not explicitly name targets in the 2025 mayoral race, but the election was won by Zohran Mamdani, a self-declared socialist and longtime Palestine supporter who became the first Muslim elected mayor of the city.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu confirmed Paris had asked Israel for explanations regarding BlackCore’s actions and assistance identifying who commissioned the smear campaigns.

“I do not doubt for a single instant that if a French private group, from French soil moreover, had engaged in foreign digital interference in Israel, they would have done the same to its ambassador on site,” Lecornu said.

Company profile and response

Before removing its website and LinkedIn page following media inquiries, BlackCore described itself as “an elite influence, cyber and technology company built for the modern era of information warfare” that provided governments and political campaigns with “cutting-edge strategies, advanced tools and robust security to shape narratives.”

The company has not responded to repeated requests for comment.

Israel’s embassy in Paris confirmed France had reached out, stating it was awaiting details from the French probe to conduct its own investigation.

“Israel has of course no intention to interfere in the French political process, be it at the national or municipal level,” the embassy said in a statement.

Broader context of strained relations

The controversy unfolds against a backdrop of increasingly tense France-Israel relations. Paris has condemned Israeli strikes in Lebanon, a former French mandate territory, which have caused mounting civilian casualties.

France also barred Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, from entering the country after he posted video of himself taunting blindfolded and zip-tied activists from a Gaza aid flotilla that included French citizens.

Ross Colquhoun, the Scottish National Party’s head of digital, told Reuters that during Scotland’s May elections, the party’s “social media platforms were subject to an unprecedented level of negative reactions and comments from accounts which appeared to be AI-generated bots.”

Meanwhile, Brillant acknowledged that Viginum’s investigation “did not make it possible to identify the sponsor or sponsors, if indeed they exist, behind this foreign digital interference.”

Historical significance

The BlackCore case represents one of the most comprehensive documented instances of a private cyber firm allegedly conducting election interference operations across multiple sovereign nations simultaneously. Historically, election meddling has been associated with state actors, making the involvement of a private Israeli company particularly notable.

The allegations also underscore how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become a central fault line in global digital information warfare, with pro-Palestinian political figures increasingly finding themselves targets of sophisticated cyber campaigns.

As France presses Israel for answers and other affected nations consider their responses, the case raises fundamental questions about the accountability of private cyber firms operating across international borders and the adequacy of existing legal frameworks to address such interference.

Sources for this article include:

RT.com

Reuters.com

UNN.ua