One should not exaggerate power of Russian propagandists - Israeli expert

RIGA - It is wiser to fight Russian influence operations behind the scenes rather than to create a wide resonance that allows propagandists to portray their campaigns as successful and receive Kremlin funding to continue them, Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Rakov, an expert on Russian information operations and Russian Middle East policy, told LETA in an interview.

"My recommendation is to fight these campaigns behind the scenes, destroy their IT infrastructure, fight the influencers' ability to receive funding from Moscow, but write about it less. You should write about it from time to time, but you should not create the image of these propagandists as all-powerful with too much attention," said Rakov, who has himself studied Russian influence campaigns in Israel and their results.

He believes that when people like him write about these Russian campaigns, publications appear in the media, technology companies talk about it and security agencies approach the Russians and demand that these activities stop, the propagandists have enough material for their reports to portray these campaigns as successful.

"So they get funding to continue these operations, and they do not need very much money to do it," the expert said.

Rakov has come to Latvia to brief Latvian representatives on the situation in Israel and how Israel views Russia's policy in the Middle East.

"My main topic is Russia's policy in the Middle East, which is of interest to both Israel and Latvia. For you, Russia is an everyday topic, so your perspective is important for us because we cannot understand Russia in the Middle East without understanding how Russia is seen in Ukraine, in European countries or in the US. It is very important for me to understand Latvia's point of view, because you have studied your main enemy a lot and know it well," Rakov explained.

He presented his point of view to the Latvian representatives and stressed that sometimes you can see things more clearly from a distance because you are not distracted by emotional involvement. Also, when talking about Israeli policy in the Middle East, Rakov often advised Israelis to analyze the less emotional war in Ukraine and look for parallels with our own situation.

Rakov believes that Latvia and Israel can learn a lot from each other's experience, because by discussing with partners from distant countries it is possible to look at the situation without emotions and work on different approaches to solving similar problems.

The fact that Europe is arming itself, reorganizing its defense structure and focusing on strengthening its deterrent capabilities is, in his view, a good example for Israel.

"Russia's policies also pose a threat to Israel and it is important for us to learn from the experience of Latvia and other countries in neutralizing them," he added.

The Israeli expert believes that we should help each other in various areas, including strengthening civil protection.

"I want to stress that unpleasant surprises happen and you can learn from our experience, including that of the Ukrainians, to be able to face them. One lesson is that when these surprises happen, the state system often collapses and the involvement of the whole society is very important. I know that Latvia is working on this, and rightly so," Rakov said.