Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers • Hacker News Board

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#101

Post by WhackyIdeas » Wed, Jun 05, 2024, 5:10 PM UTC

cjk2 wrote: post #85

WhackyIdeas wrote: post #73

Israel never got the memo about calming their propaganda campaigns down - now even the most average Joe (at least in the UK) can spot them a mile off. They aren’t subtle about it. For a country which is meant to be one of the smartest out there, their propaganda campaigns are an utter disaster giveaway to anyone with a pulse and a few dozen brain cells.

To be fair propagandists generally don't have to aim high. They only have to shift the undecided and uninformed opinions a little bit. You want to see some of the crap the agencies were pushing out pre-Brexit and it worked, so I wouldn't classify the average UK citizen as much to be contended with (I am UK as well for ref).

The only good thing to come from Brexit is that for some people they woke up and smelt the more expensive coffee than it used to be and had some self reflection. I have spoke with a good few people now that were like ‘I was lied to’… well duh.

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#102

Post by michaeljhg » Wed, Jun 05, 2024, 5:10 PM UTC

Is there a country that doesn't do this?

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#103

Post by pradn » Wed, Jun 05, 2024, 5:10 PM UTC

SkipperCat wrote: post #4

Not a comment about who's right or wrong in this war, but it is fascinating that we have entered the age of the Internet being a place where warfare is fought. There have always been people posting web content about conflicts but now with Gaza and Ukraine, it seems that the nations fighting are actively looking at the internet as the fourth field of battle. Just waiting for a random US future president to create an "…

There's a whole term for this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth-generation_warfare

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#104

Post by imzadi » Wed, Jun 05, 2024, 5:11 PM UTC

lprd wrote: post #93

Simon_ORourke wrote: post #87

How are those guys not treated as some hostile foreign power and have half their embassy staff expelled is beyond me.

I’ve often pondered the same. Seems like Israel gets a lot of special treatment from the US.

Because anti-Semitism is used to derail any conversation about Israel. If you criticize Israel, you're accused of being an anti-Semite, and actual anti-Semites flood the conversation with actual anti-Semitism that immediately shuts everything down.

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#105

Post by shmatt » Wed, Jun 05, 2024, 5:11 PM UTC

Out: blame AIPAC for congress funding israel

In: blame FB comments for congress funding Israel

Is it really that hard to imagine congress supporting the democratic country with one of the biggest pride parades in the world vs the country that hasn’t had elections in 18 years and is split between 2 leaders who disagree on pretty much everything?

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#106

Post by AzzyHN » Wed, Jun 05, 2024, 5:12 PM UTC

Truly shocking. Who could've seen this coming.

On a more serious note, I figured the majority of US lawmakers already supported the genocide. I'm surprised Israel feels the need to use propaganda for this

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#107

Post by TedDoesntTalk » Wed, Jun 05, 2024, 5:12 PM UTC

lenerdenator wrote: post #96

Simon_ORourke wrote: post #87

How are those guys not treated as some hostile foreign power and have half their embassy staff expelled is beyond me.

General lack of countries with something even vaguely resembling representative government in the Middle East. Israel seems to only extend that sort of courtesy to a part of its citizenry, but when you remember that the "stable" countries in the region are all more-or-less absolute monarchies, it becomes obvious why the US is willing to at least work with Israel.

> Israel seems to only extend that sort of courtesy to a part of its citizenry

There have been over 100 Arabs in the Israeli parliament: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arab_members_of_the_Kn...

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#108

Post by pessimizer » Wed, Jun 05, 2024, 5:12 PM UTC

Simon_ORourke wrote: post #87

How are those guys not treated as some hostile foreign power and have half their embassy staff expelled is beyond me.

Because all the aid for Israel comes back to arms dealers and other wealthy creeps in the US, and they own our politics.

Israelis are just doing what their version of Judaism is telling them to do, it's the neocon Zionists in the US that finance it that are the real danger. It isn't just that they don't care about Palestinian lives, they don't care about Israeli lives, either. They care about Israeli contracts.

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#109

Post by some-guy » Wed, Jun 05, 2024, 5:14 PM UTC

cafard wrote: post #72

laweijfmvo wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I've learned about old people (and in the US, the people in charge are _OLD_) is that they have no concept of being scammed like this. So they may recognize trolling, but if you tell them "Hey, the President of Israel tweeted at you," they just assume it was the President of Israel.

I am in my upper 60s--if a bit junior for Congress, let alone the White House--but like to think of myself as a bit more skeptical than that.

Helping my parents in their mid-70s is a constant uphill battle with these things. I simply tell her to ignore *everything* and if she needs confirmation to get in contact with me.

Re: Israel reportedly used fake social accounts to garner support from US lawmakers

#110

Post by notaustinpowers » Wed, Jun 05, 2024, 5:14 PM UTC

Simon_ORourke wrote: post #87

How are those guys not treated as some hostile foreign power and have half their embassy staff expelled is beyond me.

Because of the 535 politicians we have, 45 of them have received donations just during the 2024 election cycle. Big names like Ted Cruz, Marsha Blackburn, Rick Scott, Mitt Romney, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, etc.

It's bipartisan enough that I don't believe the parties will be able to come to an agreement to enact any meaningful change. This goes beyond the Republican vs. Democrat issues so it's much more difficult to make this a partisan issue to rally mass support from either party.