Israel’s election campaign has been overshadowed by personal attacks, divisive messages and artificial intelligence-generated content as political parties intensify efforts to win votes ahead of Tuesday’s parliamentary election.
The closely contested race pits Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc against a coalition led by his main centre-right challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, with opinion polls indicating a tight contest.
Campaigners have increasingly turned to AI-generated videos, manipulated images and inflammatory slogans to portray their opponents as dangerous, dishonest or unfit to govern. Some attacks have also targeted candidates’ personal tragedies, including the loss of relatives during the wars that followed Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack.
Eisenkot recently posted an AI-generated video marking Netanyahu’s 77th birthday. The clip featured fictional characters portraying a Hamas militant and Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, making remarks that mocked Netanyahu’s record on security and the war.
Netanyahu’s camp has also used AI content against the opposition. A video shared in July depicted Eisenkot rejecting an embrace from a young man wearing an “Israel unity” shirt before embracing Arab-Israeli politician Mansour Abbas.
The video triggered outrage over allegations that the young man resembled Eisenkot’s son, who was killed while fighting in Gaza in 2023. Netanyahu’s party denied the allegation, while Eisenkot later expressed strong disgust over the video and those behind it.
Netanyahu’s supporters have also circulated content warning against an opposition government that could include Arab-Israeli parties. Some videos portray Jewish opposition politicians removing masks to reveal Arab politicians, while others depict Arab figures looming over an apparently collapsing parliament.
Billboards supporting Netanyahu’s Likud party have appeared with the slogan “The Right or Palestine” alongside the faces of Arab-Israeli politicians.
Thair Abu Ras, head of the Forum for Regional Thinking at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, criticised the messaging, describing it as incitement against the opposition and its potential Arab partners.
The campaign has also drawn criticism over insults directed at Eisenkot, whose family background is Moroccan Jewish. A commentator on the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 television station described him as “a monkey”, prompting condemnation from opposition figures and Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, candidates affected by the conflict have faced attacks that reference their personal losses.
Laly Derai, whose son was killed fighting in Gaza in 2024, is contesting the election under the far-right Amcha Israel party. The party supports compulsory military service for all Israelis, an increasingly divisive issue because some religious students are exempt.
Derai said she had been subjected to a coordinated smear campaign, including claims that her political position betrayed her son’s memory. Posters near her home in the occupied West Bank have urged her to withdraw, warning that her candidacy could endanger the country.
She told AFP that the abuse had strengthened her determination to enter politics and challenge what she described as hate-filled rhetoric. She also reported receiving abusive calls and social media messages, as well as seeing hostile signs placed near locations used by children travelling to school.
Families of former hostages have also become targets. An unofficial Facebook page supporting Netanyahu’s Likud party shared an image contrasting Talik Gvili, a Likud candidate and mother of a former hostage, with Einav Zangauker, who has openly criticised the prime minister. The accompanying caption read, “It is us or them.”
The election is Israel’s first since Hamas’s October 2023 attack, which reshaped the country’s political debate and was followed by devastating wars.
With voting approaching, the growing use of AI-generated political material and attacks on candidates’ personal experiences have intensified concerns about the tone of the campaign and the deep divisions within Israeli society.
