Iranian network established relations with Likud figures: Israeli media
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Israeli channel 12 says an Iranian network succeeded in establishing relations with Likud figures and broadening the rift between the Israeli right and left.
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Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, at a Likud faction meeting on December 24, 2018
An Iranian network was successful in establishing relations with figures in the Likud party, Israeli Channel 12 reported Wednesday.
According to the Israeli channel, the network also succeeded in making said figures publish certain content without knowing who was behind the network, which led the latter to be able to broaden the rift between the Israeli left and right.
"The Iranian network tried to spread messages against former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in addition to centrist and leftist groups," the channel reported.
Reportedly, the network's goal is fueling the political rift in "Israel" and inciting protests. "Toward the end of September, Likud activists organized a protest against Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, which prompted the Iranian network to volunteer and start handing out invitations and videos produced especially for this occasion."
Members of the network tried to contact key Likud figures, the channel claimed, including Netanyahu's advisor Eli Cohen and Lior Harari, a prominent Israeli activist.
"The network became very popular its members used a different work model," the channel said, explaining that it had very few high-quality accounts rather than hundreds of bot/spam accounts. Ten Facebook pages were able to surpass hundreds of Israeli accounts, it underscored.
"This is not the first time that Iran has worked on fueling the Israeli political dispute between the right and the left, but this Iranian network was [Tehran's] biggest success so far," a Channel 12 presenter asserted.
The Times of 'Israel' last week reported that the Likud party's internal court took the decision to expel around 1,000 members and probe 7,000 others over New Likudniks affiliation, as infighting grows in the party.
Reportedly, the court had overwhelming evidence to remove the 1,000. However, it ruled against a demand to expel the New Likudniks group, saying they would be individually probed.
Netanyahu is also facing a challenge over his leadership of the party, as his opponents are rising among the ranks amid the decreasing popularity of the former PM.
Former Finance Minister Israel Katz is expected to challenge Netanyahu over leadership of the party during the preliminary elections, although he is yet to officially announce he was running.
