Cyber Awareness

Israeli‑Linked Influence Campaign Targeted Qatar in Europe, Report Finds

By Daniel Khalili-Tari

A three‑year investigation by Northwestern University professor Marc Owen Jones and independent researcher Sohan Dsouza uncovered a paid influence operation that promoted racist, Islamophobic and anti‑Qatar views. The campaign, costing more than $11 million, operated in 30 countries, including Europe, the United States and Lebanon. The researchers described it as “perhaps one of the biggest digital influence and disinformation operations ever documented.”

Le Monde reported that the campaign targeted France, aligning its ads with national electoral calendars. Ads were bought in France in the months leading up to the June 2024 European Parliament elections, and UK buying stopped on 17 May 2024, days before the general election was called. The researchers warned that the campaign remains active in countries approaching major elections, including France and Italy in 2027.

In Europe, the ads used the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, portraying Qatar as a hidden power directing Muslim immigration to “Islamise” Europe. Jones compared Qatar’s role to the anti‑Soros narrative that portrays a Jewish billionaire as a hidden force. A TikTok campaign promoted regime change in Iran to European audiences, beginning on 24 February, four days before the US and Israel launched their war on the country.

The report states that metadata shows video editors working on the campaign operated in the Israeli time zone, used machines with Hebrew drive and folder names, and that the operation was launched from within Israel. The researchers say they have “moderate to high confidence” that the influence operation sought to portray Qatar as the driving force behind mass migration.

Qatar has previously been targeted by Israeli‑linked campaigns. A Haaretz investigation last month found that Israeli influence experts and political advisers worked on a secret campaign targeting Doha after the Hamas‑led October 7, 2023 attacks. Israeli politicians have repeatedly criticized Qatar, with former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett calling for the country to be declared an enemy state. Most recently, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party accused Doha, without evidence, of interfering in Israeli elections held on Tuesday. The Qatari Foreign Ministry has denounced the allegations as a “disinformation campaign.”