A state comptroller’s report released on Tuesday about the threat of foreign interference in Israeli elections found that the government has no national policy to combat the issue.

Outgoing State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said that Iran and other hostile actors are systematically exploiting social media to deepen social divisions in Israel, spread panic and manipulate the public’s perception of reality.

“We found that Israel’s national preparedness is fundamentally inadequate: nine years after the threat was first identified by the state, there is still no national policy, and no government body is leading efforts to address the issue,” Englman said in a statement accompanying the issuing of the report.

A national action plan was presented to the prime minister a year ago, but it has not yet been reviewed, wrote Englman, who also warned that foreign election interference could undermine public trust in the upcoming election results.

His report sounded an alarm over the fact that the Shin Bet only started preparing in January for the upcoming elections — slated to be held in October —  while the National Security Council “ceased dealing with the matter” in August 2025.

Foreign election interference is even more likely, given the advent of AI tools, which allow hostile elements to rapidly create highly credible fictitious identities and fake content on a huge scale, Englman said.

“Without an immediate and organized government response, attempts to interfere in Israel’s domestic public discourse could even lead to harm to the state’s sovereignty and........

© The Times of Israel