Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs organized and paid for a digital campaign to influence U.S. lawmakers, especially Democrats who are Black, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The ministry allotted $2 million to the operation in October and hired Stoic, a Tel Aviv-based political marketing firm, to carry it out. Stoic established fake news websites and hundreds of fake accounts on X, Instagram, and Facebook that posted pro-Israeli messages, trying to push lawmakers such as Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the House minority leader, Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., to fund Israel's military and support its war efforts, the Times reported.

The influence campaign had been reported by a few news and nonprofit organizations in recent months, but the Times article, which drew from operation documents and interviews with current and former diaspora ministry officials, was the first to show that Israel's government was behind it. Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, published a related story one hour later on Wednesday.

Critics condemned the Israeli government for its role in the disinformation campaign.

"So in addition to the pro-Israel lobby spending........

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