Russia launched an unusually sharp attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, with its Foreign Ministry saying it was "shocked" by his accusations that Moscow was involved in an online antisemitic campaign.
"We were shocked by these unfounded accusations against our country, publicly voiced by the prime minister of Israel," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Moscow of being involved in an online antisemitic campaign
(Video: GPO)
Moscow described attempts to link Russia to such an antisemitic campaign as "particularly absurd," citing relations between the two countries. The ministry also claimed that, thanks to the Russian leadership's policies aimed at "strengthening peace and interethnic harmony," expressions of antisemitism in Russia are virtually nonexistent.
The ministry further accused Netanyahu of choosing to make his allegations through "media leaks" ahead of Israel's October 27 elections rather than pursuing dialogue between cybersecurity experts.
Earlier this week, Netanyahu accused Russia of operating networks of bots targeting Israel and said he had raised the issue directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While presenting his national security doctrine for the first time since the beginning of his current term, three years after the October 7 massacre and the outbreak of war, Netanyahu claimed that online hostility toward Israel and posts calling for "Free Palestine" had fallen by 60% after Ukraine struck major data centers in Russia.
Addressing relations with Moscow, Netanyahu said the two countries maintain contact when necessary but acknowledged that their interests frequently diverge. "We speak as needed. But again, he has Russia's interests, and we have the interests of the State of Israel, and they don't always overlap. Sometimes they even clash," Netanyahu said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: Reuters)
"For example, their cooperation with Iran during the war in Ukraine, and not only there. That works against us. Another example is the existence of networks, a bot operation against the State of Israel spreading the most blatant antisemitism imaginable. We raise all these issues, and we raise them very clearly. And when there is an opportunity to cooperate, we do that as well," according to the prime minister.
Ukrainian strikes on data centers operated by Russian technology giant Yandex reportedly caused widespread disruptions to internet access in Russia and coincided with a sharp decline in global bot activity.
For example, online activity surrounding Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party reportedly fell by 30% within a day, followed by a further 56% decline the next day.
"Suddenly, it became a little easier to breathe on many social media platforms," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote. "Many people noticed it. Less hatred, less division and fewer provocations."