Facebook says it has taken down hundreds of fake social media accounts based in Iran that had voiced support for protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The announcement came in a monthly report released on Thursday. It said one such case involved 12 Facebook accounts, two pages and 307 Instagram accounts that had shared content in Hebrew and Arabic about protests in both Israel and Iraq.

Facebook said the individuals behind the accounts had sought to shield their identities but that it was able to trace them to a Tehran-based IT company. It said the network of fake accounts had around 10,000 followers and was in the early stages of building an audience.

Netanyahu and his supporters quoted the report, saying it proved that Iran supported the aims of his political opponents. “Iran, which is making efforts to destroy Israel by attempting to acquire nuclear weapons and arm the enemies around us, is trying to overthrow Prime Minister Netanyahu because it is aware that he has been steadily fighting against these attempts for years,” the Likud stated.

“Even if the left’s protests switch their black flags [a reference to the anti-Netanyahu Black Flag movement] to pink flags, they won’t be able to hide the fact that they are supported by one of the darkest regimes in the world and they have a mutual goal: to topple Prime Minister Netanyahu. We will not let Iran win,” the statement concluded.

Israel views Iran as its greatest threat because of Tehran’s nuclear program, its support for regional terror groups and the incendiary rhetoric of its leaders.

Israel thwarted a major cyberattack earlier this year targeting its water infrastructure, which was widely attributed to Iran. Israel is suspected of retaliating two weeks later with a cyberattack on an Iranian port.

Israel and Iran have engaged in years of covert battles that have included high-tech hacking and cyberattacks. Most famously, U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies are suspected of unleashing a computer worm called Stuxnet that disrupted Iran’s nuclear program.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem & AP)