A cache of internal documents recently obtained by Shomrim exposes the extent, depth, cynicism – and limits – of Russian efforts to influence Israeli public opinion. The leak, which contains thousands of documents, including email correspondence, internal plans and fictitious articles, provides a rare glimpse into a Russian campaign designed to exacerbate internal rifts in Israel, deepen tensions and polarize opposing camps, as well as undermine Israel’s relations with other countries and, unsurprisingly, erode Israeli support for Ukraine. According to the documents, this included bolstering the standing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in part due to his position on the war in Ukraine; the establishment of a new political party targeting Israeli-Russian community, which would win “three or four seats in the Knesset”; collaboration with Russian-speaking politicians; distributing anti-Ukrainian flyers in synagogues; and spraying provocative graffiti in predominantly Arab population areas in Israel. Overseas, the Russians were busy disseminating and promoting antisemitic and anti-Israel content, in an attempt to undermine Israel’s relations with key countries.

The documents were leaked from a Moscow-based company called Social Design Agency (SDA), which works with the Kremlin and operates against Israel, Germany, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Turkey and elsewhere. The leaked documents were obtained by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, German television stations NDR and WDR, as well as the Austrian news website Delfi. They decided to share them with a number of media outlets across the world. Shomrim’s Uri Blau and Milan Czerny were the Israeli representatives in the project.

A small portion of the leaked documents were revealed earlier this month in an FBI report published on the U.S. Justice Department’s website, as part of the United States’ efforts to shut down internet sites operated by Russia. The report detailed the Russians’ global disinformation campaign, which included the creation of content that was disseminated on social media and websites pushing fake news – but did not address some of the key elements of the Russian campaign. Shomrim is now able to reveal the full picture, and expose that the company did not limit itself to online activity and that its plans in Israel included actions on the ground and political activity.

The company founder reports directly to Putin

The Social Design Agency, which was founded in 2017, is one of the most significant companies operating on behalf of the Russian government as part of its efforts to manipulate public opinion and influence the balance of political power in various countries across the world. It employs more than 100 people, including translators working in Arabic and Hebrew. In light of its nefarious activity, the United States this year imposed sanctions against SDA, claiming that it is a key actor in Russia's global malign influence campaigns.

The company was founded by Ilya Gambashidze, who, over the past decade, has worked with various Russian politicians. According to the U.S. State Department, Gambashidze works under former Russian prime minister Sergey Kiriyenko, who now holds a senior position in the Kremlin. The FBI report also mentions a document which appears to show that Gambashidze reported about his operations directly to President Vladimir Putin and the leaks show that SDA employees were in direct contact with other Kremlin officials.

According to the FBI, as part of the “doppelganger” campaign, the company operated more than 60 counterfeit websites which disseminated pro-Russian propaganda and which spread misinformation about Ukraine. SDA also monitored the online activity of more than 2,800 individuals from 81 different countries, whom it had identified as influential people. Among them were journalists, academics, politicians and bloggers. In France, for example, the company sought to take advantage of influential opinion leaders, such as former senior army officers, to disseminate negative information about support for Ukraine and grow fear over possible tensions between France and Russia.

‘The Israeli prime minister’s wisdom’

Israel plays a central role in the Russian campaign, both as a target itself and also as a country that is an integral part of the campaigns conducted against other countries. “The situation in Israel today is perfect for us to launch a campaign to influence public opinion,” declared an internal SDA document written in 2023, against the backdrop of mass demonstrations against the government’s plan to overhaul the judicial system. The document meticulously details the political and social situation in Israel and lists Russian citizens currently living in Israel whose activity should be monitored. The goal of the planned campaign, according to the documents, was to increase support for Russia in its war against Ukraine to the point where 50 percent of the Israeli public is on Moscow’s side, as well as to increase the percentage of Israelis with anti-Ukrainian views. Another key goal of the campaign was to ensure that no party in the Knesset would support Israel providing military aid to Ukraine.

According to the documents, decision-makers at SDA monitored Israeli media and opinion leaders in Israel in an attempt to analyze the prominent narratives in Israeli public opinion. They then used this information to engineer the appropriate content to advance Russian goals. The documents show that SDA produced 50 Israel-focused cartoons a month, before sharing them on social media platforms, around 20 fake articles on websites impersonating genuine news websites, and countless comments on social media. Among the content the company produced and shared via paid Facebook ads were cartoons in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was shown burning the Israeli flag and another in which Israeli leftists were accused of supporting Hamas.

One of the key revelations from the trove of leaked documents is that the Russian campaign identified Arab society in Israel as a target. For example, a fake article shared in Arabic claimed that Israel does not have enough precise munitions since it supplied Ukraine with these systems and argued that this would lead to failures on the battlefield. “The good news must be heard by all believers living under occupation,” the article said. “The policies of the occupation government will soon see it defeated. We will wait for the spark that ignites our war of liberation, a war which the entire Muslim world will support.” The goal of the article appears to be to incite the Arab population of Israel to support the efforts of Israel's enemies.

The outbreak of the war in Gaza provided the Russians with what they saw as the perfect opportunity to advance their goals. “Now, a key element of the project can be to provide a positive assessment of the wisdom and foresight of the Israeli prime minister,” one of the documents said. The narrative that the Russians tried to advance is that if Netanyahu had approved the sale of the Iron Dome missile defense system to Ukraine, the Israeli home front would have been left vulnerable to attacks.

Another document suggested attempting to erode social cohesion in Israel by spray-painting provocative graffiti in Arab neighborhoods, aiming to heighten domestic tensions— a tactic believed to have been previously tested by Russian actors against France. Another plan consisted in distributing leaflets in synagogues with a wide range of false allegations.

According to the documents, the war in Gaza also allowed the Russian campaign to exacerbate the rifts that already existed between Israel and the international community. In Turkey, for example, the Russians spread narratives that have clearly taken root. “Israel is the enemy of all Muslims, including Turkish Muslims (…) Turkey cannot allow itself to be a member of the same front as those that are committing genocide in Gaza,” one of the leaked documents argued.

Immigration to Israel worries the Russians

In one of the leaked documents, which details how the company’s campaign is progressing, SDA employees said that they were satisfied with the results so far and were convinced that “our narrative has entered the public discourse (…) and it is being amplified by opinion leaders and the media.” The authors of the document provided an example of disinformation, describing how one false report about a shipment of weapons from Ukraine to Hamas made its way into various media outlets. An Israeli right-wing commentator echoed the misleading claim on a popular television program, which aired a video that falsely claimed to depict Ukrainian arms in Hamas' possession. This footage was also heavily circulated by pro-Russian social media accounts. In response, the pundit told Shomrim: “I was talking about Hezbollah and not Hamas, and the concern that certain capabilities could also find their way into Hamas’ hands (…) My comment was based on facts and the defense establishment is aware of it.”

While SDA lauded some of its achievements, the company also recognized that a campaign conducted exclusively online has its limits – they also planned to carry out operations on the ground. These future operations are detailed in several documents. For example, the company planned to open an office in Israel, with an annual budget of $1.2 million, to coordinate its operations in the country and execute some of its more far-reaching plans. With or without any connection to a planned Tel Aviv branch, the leaked documents already contain the name of one employee – apparently from Israel – who has done translation jobs for SDA. The individual in question did not respond to Shomrim’s request for comment.

The Russians planned on using their representatives in Israel to influence Knesset policies through politicians who immigrated to Israel from former Soviet states. The documents mention Yuli Edelstein, a Likud lawmaker who serves as chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee – even though he is known to support Ukraine, where he was born. Edelstein did not respond to Shomrim’s request for comment. Another proposal in the documents is the establishment of a new political party for Russian-speakers, which SDA believed could win three or four seats in Knesset elections. While these ideas may sound fanciful to Israeli ears, Russia has been accused of making similar attempts in recent months to influence political institutions in Europe.

Another key target of Russian influence campaigns were Jews who migrated from Russia to Israel and the United States. In this context, too, the Russians played a duplicitous game: on the one hand, they wanted to influence Russian-speakers in the countries to which they had migrated and, at the same time, to promote narratives that would limit the ability of Russian Jews to leave the country. Netanyahu and his government were warmly praised for a plan by some members of the ruling coalition to scale back the Law of Return, which would make it harder for Russian Jews to immigrate to Israel.

The fact that the Russians are addressing the issue of emigration is a reflection of their sensitivity to the issue because of the mass exodus that Russia has experienced since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. According to estimates, around one million people, the vast majority of them from in-demand professions and of high socioeconomic status came to Israel. The campaign planned to incite against Russian immigrants in several European countries. Due to the sensitivity of the plan and the fact that Russia was targeting its own citizens, the documents stipulated that “the project should not be traceable back to the Kremlin in any way.”

‘The Russians benefit from the leak’

Did the SDA influence campaign achieve its goals in Israel? The answer is unclear – and it seems that this is why the company sought to intensify its efforts and start carrying out operations on the ground. Another assessment raised by experts who viewed the documents is that the leak may well serve SDA’s interests, since it portrays the company as an octopus spreading its influence to many countries, even though there are many questions about the tangible success of the campaign.

Dr. Ofer Fridman, a senior lecturer in the War Studies Department at King’s College London, who specializes in Russian information warfare, agrees that publishing the leaks serves Russia’s interests regardless. "The publication," he explains, "gives the Kremlin credit for running subversive campaigns, aiming to convince target audiences in Russia, Israel, and beyond that the Kremlin is behind them—whether or not it actually is." As a result, Fridman adds, the Kremlin is perceived globally as more powerful and influential than it truly is.

The Russian government and Social Design Agency did not respond to requests for comment.