Imagine scrolling through your social media feed in the weeks before an election. A video of a politician appears, and it looks real, but something feels off. Another post claims a candidate promised something they never said. You feel your frustration rise. Now imagine being so overwhelmed by the noise that you open a chatbot and ask, “Who should I vote for?” According to a new survey by the Israel Internet Association, that scenario is not hypothetical for a significant number of Israeli voters. One in four Israelis is considering using artificial intelligence tools or another online service to help decide whom to vote for in the upcoming general election, scheduled for late October. This is a remarkable shift, but also a fragile one. The same survey reveals a public drowning in misinformation: around 71% of Israelis say they have encountered election-related fake news frequently or occasionally. Only 15% say they have not been exposed to it at all. These numbers paint a picture of an electorate trying to find its way through a fog of manipulated content, impersonator accounts and algorithmically amplified lies. The decision to turn to AI for guidance may feel like a way out of the confusion, but it carries its own dangers. If the information feeding the AI is biased, outdated or deliberately corrupted, the recommendation it gives may be no better than a rumor spread in a chat group. The survey reminds us that the problem is not simply the existence of false information; it is that false information has become woven into the daily experience of millions of people. For many Israelis, election season no longer begins with a debate or a party platform, but with a suspicious message forwarded by a relative, a doctored image, or a deepfake that leaves them questioning what is true. That is the human reality behind the statistic, and it is why understanding the survey’s findings matters far beyond academic interest.
The survey, conducted by the Geocartography Group among a representative sample of 1,005 Israelis, also shatters the comfortable illusion that misinformation affects only certain kinds of voters. In Israel’s deeply polarized society, where political identity often shapes friendships, news consumption and even family gatherings, one might expect different communities to be hit differently. But the data shows that false information cuts across the entire political spectrum. Among respondents who identified with the right, 73.3% said they had encountered election-related false information; among those in the center, the figure was 69.5%; and among those on the left, it was 68.9%. These differences are small enough to be statistically marginal, and they carry a deeper message: no one is immune. Whether you are a supporter of a right-wing party, a centrist coalition or a left-wing movement, you are almost equally likely to stumble upon fabricated news, misleading headlines or out-of-context clips. The survey also found that 56.8% of Israelis have encountered fake or impersonator accounts online frequently or occasionally, while only about 20% said they had never encountered such accounts. That means the vast majority of the public has seen at least one account pretending to be someone it is not. These can be fake profiles of political candidates, bots designed to amplify certain messages, or anonymous accounts posing as concerned citizens in comment sections. The impersonation problem is particularly insidious because it erodes trust not only in the source of a message but in the very idea of online identity. When you cannot tell whether a real human is behind a post, or whether a party leader actually made the statement attributed to them, you begin to doubt everything. This environment is fertile ground for manipulation, because the first casualty of disinformation is not the truth; it is the confidence that truth can be found. And as the survey suggests, Israelis are not naive about this. They recognize the problem, but recognition alone does not protect them from its effects.
Beyond the spread of fake news and fake accounts, the survey reveals a deeper anxiety: the fear that online political speech is becoming dangerous. A clear majority, 69% of Israelis, said they were highly or very highly concerned that political discourse would fuel an escalation in online violence around the election. This is not a vague worry. It reflects a reality in which political disagreements can quickly turn into personal attacks, threats and coordinated harassment. People watch their news feeds fill with anger, and they wonder where it will lead. The survey’s findings on the malicious use of technology only deepen that concern. Nearly half of respondents, 48.2%, said they had frequently or occasionally encountered the use of artificial intelligence to harm or defame another person, and another 25.6% had encountered it rarely. Taken together, that means roughly three-quarters of Israelis have seen AI being weaponized in some form, whether through manipulated videos, fake audio recordings or fabricated images designed to ruin reputations. The Israel Internet Association emphasized that these findings should be read as a wake-up call. Impersonation, disinformation and malicious AI are no longer future threats that exist in science fiction. They are part of the current reality of Israel’s online sphere. For ordinary voters, this means that the information they rely on to make one of the most important decisions of their civic lives may have been generated by a machine, not to inform them, but to manipulate them. The emotional toll is significant. When people believe that the online space is rigged, they may become cynical and disengaged, or they may cling even harder to the content that confirms their existing beliefs. Both responses are dangerous for a healthy democracy. The survey shows that Israelis are not passive victims; they are aware of these dangers and are worried about them. But awareness and worry are not enough. Without tools to verify what is real, citizens are left to navigate a battlefield of algorithms, bots and deepfakes, with their own judgment as the only compass.
This is where the appeal of AI tools becomes understandable. In a world where every political claim is contested and every piece of evidence is suspect, the idea of a neutral machine that can cut through the noise and tell you how to vote is seductive. The survey found that one in four Israelis is considering using artificial intelligence tools or another online service to help decide whom to vote for. That does not mean a quarter of the electorate will blindly follow a chatbot, but it does mean that a significant portion of the public is open to delegating some of their decision-making to technology. On the surface, this makes sense. AI can process huge amounts of data, compare party platforms, summarize policy positions and even answer specific questions about candidates. It can save time and reduce the burden of trying to follow every debate, interview and news report. But there is a hidden danger. AI systems are not neutral. They are trained on data that may contain biases, and they can be manipulated by those who understand how to feed them false information. A chatbot asked about a candidate’s record might rely on a news article that is itself based on a fake account. A recommendation engine might prioritize content that is engaging rather than truthful. And in the hands of malicious actors, AI can be used to generate convincing misinformation that is nearly impossible to distinguish from reality. Dr. Shaked Davran-Zivon, the Israel Internet Association’s coordinator for online literacy and safety, put it clearly: a free and fair election depends on the ability to make decisions based on reliable information. She acknowledged that AI tools can help voters understand issues and compare candidates’ positions, but warned that they should not be relied on blindly. Instead, voters should cross-check information, think critically and form their own views. This is sound advice, but it requires effort. The same habits that make people vulnerable to fake news, sharing quickly, trusting familiar sources, avoiding difficult information, are the habits that make AI-generated advice dangerous.
To help voters protect themselves, the Israel Internet Association published a special guide designed to counter deception and manipulation online. The guide is not a list of which candidates to support; it is a practical toolkit for reclaiming control over one’s own information environment. It encourages voters to pause before sharing anything that provokes an emotional reaction, especially anger or fear. It advises people to check whether a source is credible and whether the same information appears in independent outlets. It reminds readers that social media accounts can be fake, and that a verified badge is not always enough, because badges themselves can be copied or stolen. It also suggests that voters be wary of content that asks them to distrust all mainstream media while providing no evidence for its claims. The guide reflects a growing understanding that digital literacy is not a luxury in a modern democracy; it is a civic necessity. In a country like Israel, where security issues, coalition politics and social divisions make elections particularly intense, the ability to distinguish between real information and manipulation can shape the outcome. Dr. Davran-Zivon’s warning is worth repeating: free and fair elections depend on reliable information. If voters cannot trust what they see and hear, they cannot make meaningful choices. The guide offers a path forward, but it depends on individual commitment. Every voter must decide whether they are willing to do the work of verification, to question the sources that flatter their beliefs, and to accept that the truth is often more complicated than a viral post. This is not easy, especially in an environment designed to reward speed over accuracy. But the survey shows that Israelis are already aware of the stakes. The question is whether that awareness can be converted into action before the October election.
In the end, the survey by the Israel Internet Association is a portrait of an electorate caught between hope and fear. There is hope in the fact that people are looking for ways to understand their choices, even if that means turning to AI. There is fear in the fact that so many have been exposed to lies, impersonators and manipulated media. But there is also reason for optimism. The public is paying attention. They are worried about online violence, they are noticing deepfakes, and they are aware that social media can be weaponized. This awareness is the first step toward resilience. The challenge for Israeli voters, and for anyone who cares about democracy, is to move from passive concern to active skepticism. That means not sharing a post just because it makes you angry. It means checking the source of a video before you believe it. It means asking whether a chatbot’s answer is based on evidence or on the noise it absorbed from the internet. It means treating AI as a tool, not an oracle. The upcoming election in late October will test Israel’s digital ecosystem in ways that previous elections did not. Deepfakes are becoming harder to spot. Fake accounts are becoming more sophisticated. And the malicious use of AI is no longer a distant possibility; it is already happening. But none of this is inevitable. Voters can choose to be more careful. They can choose to support media literacy, to hold platforms accountable, and to demand transparency from those who use AI in public discourse. Most importantly, they can choose to form their own views, not from a single source, but from a mosaic of reliable information. Democracy has always depended on informed citizens. In the age of AI, it depends on citizens who are determined not to be fooled. The survey suggests that Israelis understand the danger. The next step is to act on that understanding, one post, one check, one decision at a time.