'Attack on our democracy': Inside an Israeli influence campaign in France's local elections

'Attack on our democracy': Inside an Israeli influence campaign in France's local elections Pauline Ertel on Wed, 06/03/2026 - 11:11 The electoral interference by Israeli company 'BlackCore' took many by surprise and stirs fears ahead of 2027 presidential vote France Unbowed member of parliament Francois Piquemal on the rooftop of the National Assembly in Paris, France, on 5 May 2026 (Benoit Tessier/Reuters) Off A foreign influence campaign in French local elections by an Israeli firm earlier this year presents an unprecedented attack on France's democracy, victims of the operation and people familiar with it told Middle East Eye. Earlier this month, Reuters revealed that the French authorities were examining whether an alleged smear campaign against three mayoral candidates from the left-wing, pro-Palestinian party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed - LFI) ahead of March's municipal elections was carried out by an obscure Israeli firm ​called BlackCore. The operation's broad outlines were first exposed by newspaper Le Monde in March, when Viginum, a digital interference detection service within the French prime minister's office, revealed a "foreign digital interference" scheme with "limited" reach targeting a "French political party" and its candidates in Marseille, Toulouse and Roubaix. A joint investigation by Liberation and Haaretz then uncovered a set of tools under development for online influence campaigns on a server that had hosted a subdomain of the “blackcore.online” website for several months. Digital traces led to two Tel Aviv-based technology companies, Galacticos and SNI Digital, whose executives deny any connection to BlackCore. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); On a website that has since disappeared, BlackCore described itself as "an elite influence, cyber and technology company built for the modern era of information warfare", providing governments and ​political campaigns with "cutting-edge strategies, advanced tools and robust security to shape narratives". The operation targeted Marseille mayoral candidate Sebastien Delogu, Toulouse contender Francois Piquemal, and their Roubaix counterpart David Guiraud, and included deceptive websites and social media accounts alleging criminal behaviour, including sexual assault, as ​well as disparaging digital ads. Paris prosecutors last week said they had opened a probe into the case, while French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez publicly committed to publishing the Viginum probe, after allegations were made by investigative journal Le Canard enchaine that its report had been “redacted and shelved” and that “neither the intelligence services nor the judiciary” were seeking to identify the perpetrators. Local Israel lobby LFI MP and mayoral candidate Piquemal told Middle East Eye he was made aware of possible election interference when sensitive information, including his social media passwords, personal account passwords, tax information and home address was leaked two weeks before the first round of municipal elections in Toulouse. "Several days later, Viginum and French media outlets Le Canard Enchaine and Le Monde published investigations saying that there was foreign interference linked to Elnet, a pro-Israeli influence agency," Piquemal said. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); A day before the second round of elections, advertisements defaming Piquemal's campaign appeared during the so-called electoral silence period in which candidates are barred from speaking publicly. The fake advertisements circulated on several websites, including the second-hand clothing sales app Vinted and the website of the regional media outlet La Depeche du Midi, and depicted a woman wearing a burka saying "I choose Piquemal (and I keep my top on)" - apparently alluding to LFI's position against Islamophobia in France. 🚨 ALERTE : TENTATIVE DE DESTABILISATION D'UNE CAMPAGNE À 1 JOUR DU SCRUTIN. pic.twitter.com/1ZMBs17a2W March 21, 2026 Another showed a man with "LFI" tattooed on his chest kicking and attacking a man on the ground. "We still don’t know who paid for those ads. I filed a complaint, but the investigation still hasn’t identified who was behind them," Piquemal told MEE. During his campaign to become the mayor of France's fourth-largest city, Piquemal was an outspoken critic of Israel's genocide in Gaza. 'Other countries might think: In Toulouse this worked pretty well. They successfully targeted the candidate and there weren’t many consequences... Why wouldn’t we intervene too?' - François Piquemal, French MP He supported calls for suspending the partnership agreement between twin cities Toulouse and Tel Aviv, and proposed lighting the Capitole, a symbolic building in Toulouse that houses the city hall, in the colours of Palestine. "These were not radical proposals. They were fairly ordinary proposals if you want to show solidarity with a suffering population," the ex-mayoral candidate said. "In France, that position is unfortunately quite unusual in politics, and we’ve been heavily criticised for it. We are constantly accused of antisemitism," Piquemal added. Beyond his solidarity with Palestine, Piquemal believes that local Toulouse branches of pro-Israeli lobbying groups might have played a role in the defamation campaign. The Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (Crif), an umbrella organisation representing the interests of French Jews, "is very close" to Toulouse's right-wing mayor, Jean-Luc Moudenc, Piquemal said. "The president of Toulouse local Crif branch, Franck Touboul, is very close to Mr Moudenc. One of the former Crif leaders, Nicole Yardeni, is one of Moudenc’s deputies in charge of culture. And the former president of Crif Toulouse, Arie Bensemhoun, now leads Elnet," Piquemal said. "People criticise the Crif because they believe it now defends Israeli policy more than it truly represents Jews in France," he added. France concerned about the risk of foreign interference ahead of elections Read More » In 2025, French investigative news outlet Off Investigation reported that Bensemhoun, CEO of Elnet, had in a speech "explicitly likened Gaza to Nazi Germany" and had striven "to abolish the distinction between civilians and combatants". Middle East Eye contacted Toulouse Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc, Elnet and the Crif for comment but had not received a reply by the time of publication. "All these people publicly supported Moudenc's campaign. Moudenc’s political network, the radical right in Toulouse, allied with Crif and other media networks, went out to discredit our campaign. Then the foreign interference was added on top of that," Piquemal said. The March election saw Moudenc win a third consecutive term with 53.87 percent of the vote, defeating Piquemal, who secured 46.13 percent. The relatively narrow margin of 13,227 votes, coupled with evidence of foreign election interference, prompted Piquemal to call for the result to be annulled. The Toulouse MP fears that BlackCore's campaign might create a multiplying effect. "Other countries might think: 'In Toulouse this worked pretty well. They successfully targeted the candidate and there weren’t many consequences. Journalists seem to investigate more than authorities. Why wouldn’t we intervene too?' (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); "This is a democratic sovereignty issue that goes beyond us," Piquemal said. Concerns ahead of the presidential election In France's second biggest city, Marseille, flyers and QR codes leading to a website titled "Sophie's Blog" were put up across the city weeks before the elections. In it, an unidentified individual, "Sophie", accused LFI MP and mayoral candidate Delogu of sexual violence. 'Significant human and material resources were deployed, even though this was only a municipal election campaign. This is an unprecedented situation' - Yones Taguelmint, lawyer of ex-mayoral candidate Sebastien Delogu Investigations by Le Monde and other news outlets revealed that the profile was riddled with inconsistencies and signs of manipulation. On Facebook, its posts generated many comments and "likes", but all turned out to be from automated fake accounts, many based in Asia. Delogu's lawyer, Yones Taguelmint, filed a defamation complaint on behalf of his client. After the press articles about BlackCore came out, the attorney filed a new complaint concerning foreign interference, destabilisation of electoral campaigns, and organised criminal activity aimed at destabilising the candidate just days before the election. "Significant human and material resources were deployed, even though this was only a municipal election campaign. This is an unprecedented situation," Taguelmint told MEE. He also expressed concern ahead of France's 2027 presidential election and the 2029 parliamentary polls, which could see an even greater utilisation of resources to influence election outcomes. Last week, an Ordoxa poll predicted Jordan Bardella, candidate of the far-right party National Rally (Rassemblement National), will beat conservative candidate and former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. The National Rally’s pro‑Israel turn in recent years, widely seen as an effort to distance itself from its antisemitic past, has coincided with growing support from Israeli officials, including public backing for its candidate Marine Le Pen at the last parliamentary election and a high‑level invitation for Bardella. The poll also suggested a surge in support for LFI leader Jean-Luc Melenchon that could upend the race. France's National Rally leader Jordan Bardella (C) speaks with residents of Netiv Haasara, a village targeted by the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, on 26 March 2025 (Jack Guez/AFP) Gerard Grizbec, research associate at the Paris-based think tank Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (Iris), started warning about the dangers of election interference last year when he and his colleagues created an observatory on information and influence strategies. He also held a conference on disinformation in elections at around the time of the defamation campaigns against LFI mayoral candidates. 'We asked ourselves whether this was effectively a dress rehearsal for disinformation campaigns ahead of the presidential election' - Gerard Grizbec, Institute for International and Strategic Affairs "In other words, we raised the same alarm as Le Monde at that moment," Grizbec told MEE, "and we asked ourselves whether this was effectively a dress rehearsal for disinformation campaigns ahead of the presidential election." Grizbec was not surprised when reports of election interference emerged, as the observatory was already issuing warnings regarding municipal elections. "The focus however was on Russia. We were not at all focused on Israel. Not at all," Grizbec said. "Is it the Israeli state itself? Is it part of the Israeli state? Do you even need a government to carry out something like this?" he added. Grizbec believes that part of the aim of the interference was to "make LFI pay for being outspoken about Gaza" and to penalise France for its criticism of Israel. France remains committed to the 1967 UN resolutions postulating that Israel should withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories. Paris also recognised the state of Palestine last year. "Israel and France have a very, very bad relationship, and I think Israel has absolutely no hesitation about targeting LFI and more generally, the French state itself," Grizbec told MEE. Fears of cover-up Electoral competition and political rivalry prevent the interference from being understood as a phenomenon that distorts and undermines the democratic process itself, Grizbec argues. "In a healthy democracy, everyone should say that what happened is unacceptable, regardless of political disagreements. Instead, you can see that others are quietly pleased that LFI was weakened," he added. Manon Aubry, member of the EU parliament for LFI, echoed this sentiment. 'We should be able to spot and block foreign interference right as it happens. As of now, we do not have an independent institution which is able to do this' - Manon Aubry, MEP for LFI "I fear that the interference is not taken seriously because La France Insoumise is the direct victim, which makes others very happy about it," she told Middle East Eye. "‘I take this to be an attack on our democracy. It is our democracy that is at stake because if tomorrow LFI cannot run anymore because they know they will be dismissed by such a campaign, are we still living in a democracy?" Aubry added. Despite the French interior minister's pledge to publish the Viginum probe, questions remain as to whether the report will only be partially released to avoid further tensions with Israel. Grizbec fears that certain wording might be toned down or redactions added. "With the stroke of a pen, 'Israeli government' can be replaced with something vaguer like 'elements within the state apparatus'," he said. Rather than the government's Viginum probe, Delogu's lawyer places hope in investigations by the police, judges and prosecutors. "We hope that the foreign entity will also be prosecuted and convicted. But we must not lose sight of the fact that there are individuals physically present on French territory who acted," lawyer Taguelmint said. Aubry demands the establishment of democratic safeguards in the form of an independent monitoring body ahead of the presidential elections. "We should be able to spot and block foreign interference right as it happens. As of now, we do not have an independent institution which is able to do this. This is the biggest urgency for now," she said. France Paris News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0