Private Mossad for Hire - Inside an effort to influence American elections

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/02/18/private-mossad-for-hire?fbclid=IwAR1K_zQULdnjCOXxbaju76yuZBcG_yMJs9kMsjy6RsQuW6EzUO3xGwWXQFM

Details organizations spun out of national intelligence and military alumni, who manipulate social media for the benefit of wealthy clients. The story weaves around a hospital board election in Tulare California, where local activitsts attempted to vote out a corrupt board funneling millions of dollars to a consultant:

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he recall was a clear threat to Benzeevi’s hospital-management business, and he consulted a law firm in Washington, D.C., about mounting a campaign to save Kumar’s seat. An adviser there referred him to Psy-Group, an Israeli private intelligence company. Psy-Group’s slogan was “Shape Reality,” and its techniques included the use of elaborate false identities to manipulate its targets. Psy-Group was part of a new wave of private intelligence firms that recruited from the ranks of Israel’s secret services—self-described “private Mossads.” The most aggressive of these firms seemed willing to do just about anything for their clients.

Psy-Group stood out from many of its rivals because it didn’t just gather intelligence; it specialized in covertly spreading messages to influence what people believed and how they behaved. Its operatives took advantage of technological innovations and lax governmental oversight. “Social media allows you to reach virtually anyone and to play with their minds,” Uzi Shaya, a former senior Israeli intelligence officer, said. “You can do whatever you want. You can be whoever you want. It’s a place where wars are fought, elections are won, and terror is promoted. There are no regulations. It is a no man’s land.”