Israeli Political Parties Use AI Deepfakes in Election Campaign
Israeli political parties are deploying AI-generated deepfakes and bots to influence voters ahead of the October 27 parliamentary election.
Political parties in Israel are utilizing advanced artificial intelligence to manipulate voters before the October 27 parliamentary election. The Central Elections Committee recently ordered the removal of a deepfake video produced by the Religious Zionism party, marking the first time a campaign ad was pulled under laws requiring AI-generated content to be labeled.
Led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the Religious Zionism party created the video to depict front-runner Gadi Eisenkot meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, attempting to frame Eisenkot as a dangerous left-winger. Beyond deepfakes, campaigns are employing AI-powered bots, avatars, and chatbots to infiltrate WhatsApp groups and build detailed voter profiles using commercial data.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition is leveraging government-funded psychological warfare tools and established databases, while opposition groups are partnering with the local tech community to counter these tactics. Regulatory oversight is currently split between the police, the Shin Bet, and the Central Elections Committee, the latter of which relies on international tech firms to remove deceptive content.
