ISRAELI intelligence services are believed to be turning to social media to gather information and recruit potential informants in Lebanon and Iran, according to security experts, using online advertisements and appeals tailored to local audiences.
One Instagram account, presenting itself as belonging to Israel’s foreign intelligence agency Mossad, has published Arabic-language messages encouraging people to make contact through confidential channels.
Read also: Trump Administration Seeks To Strip Ilhan Omar Of US Citizenship
The account, which is verified and operates under the handle @themossad_official, has posted recruitment appeals in colloquial Lebanese Arabic, including inviting people to explore new opportunities by initiating a private conversation.
The profile prominently features pinned highlight reels with Arabic titles such as “Lebanon” displaying a photo of fighters, “Israel”, “Mossad wants you!”, “Protection”, and “Think about your future”.
In August 2025, Lebanon’s General Security Directorate warned residents against interacting with the Instagram account.
In Lebanon, where years of economic turmoil have left many residents facing financial hardship, security officials have warned of suspected Israeli intelligence recruitment efforts involving social media.
In January 2025, the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar reported that Israeli intelligence operatives were attempting to recruit Lebanese citizens through fake job advertisements offering high salaries, and through direct outreach on WhatsApp.
Retired Brigadier General Mounir Chehade told the newspaper that the recruitment efforts targeted areas with significant support for Hezbollah, including Beirut’s southern suburbs, southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.
Also in January 2025, Lebanon’s General Security Directorate warned against interacting with a Facebook page called SAWA, which it suspected was a Mossad front aimed at recruiting Lebanese citizens.
Read also: Ilhan Omar Says She ‘Will Not Be Silenced’ After US Agents Raid Her Home
Similarly, in December 2025, another Lebanese newspaper L’Orient Today reported that the security agency had warned residents against interacting with a social media page calling itself “Unit 504”.
The page claimed to represent the Israeli military’s human intelligence unit and said it was looking for individuals interested in joining its ranks.
The concerns have been accompanied by arrests of people accused of passing sensitive information to Israel. Lebanese authorities were reported in October 2025 to have previously arrested 32 people suspected of giving information to Israel that was used to target Hezbollah leaders.
Academic and political researcher Wissam Nassif Yassin told Al Jazeera that Israeli intelligence uses colloquial Lebanese Arabic on these platforms to avoid arousing suspicion and to facilitate communication.
“The Israeli side focuses on all segments of society because it considers that every person can be penetrated from their own angle, based on the fact that Hezbollah in Lebanon is integrated into the core of Lebanese society,” Yassin said.
“It focuses on the party’s members primarily, then on the resistance environment secondarily, and on the environment surrounding it thirdly.”
While Israel has had notable sucesses in its intelligence operations in Lebanon – including in gathering information leading to attacks on Hezbollah leaders and members, Yassin argued that collaboration with Israel remained widely rejected in Lebanon.
Read also: Pope Leo Diagnosed With Lung Cancer After Surgery, The Vatican Confirms
He also pointed to Hezbollah’s own counterintelligence capabilities, arguing that the group has a long history of identifying and disrupting Israeli intelligence activity.
Yassin pointed to the case of Elhanan Tannenbaum, an alleged Israeli spy who was captured in 2000 after being lured abroad, and was released in 2004 in a prisoner exchange deal.
