There’s something almost "sexy" about the term "The Poison Machine." You can imagine some dim-lit situation room, something like House of Cards meets Dr. Evil, with cyber geniuses clicking "Enter" like the flap of a butterfly's wings and causing a tsunami of filth to be poured over Yair Golan or Einav Zangauker. Or Menni Naftali, for whoever still remembers.

The truth, of course, is much more stupid, filthy, chaotic, and depressing. The word "machine" makes us all think of some sophisticated German factory, but as Revital Solomon accurately noted on Twitter, it’s more of a decentralized network of weeds that have grown wild. Don't think of a BMW assembly line, think of a building committee WhatsApp group that has spun out of control: an eclectic collection of interested parties who don't need a direct order to spread filth, only the right trigger.

With the upcoming elections, here’s a bit of order in this chaotic mess that doesn't really want you to believe its lies, it just wants you to believe in nothing. Clip it, save it, and want to die.

1. Lies, technical lies, and cognitive dissonance

When the goal is to negate the concept of truth, we must admit, and we think even the supporters would admit, the Prime Minister's Chamber has developed a special expertise: lying boldly (Feldstein? An enthusiastic Zionist. Oh wait, he didn't work in the chamber), even when there is contradictory evidence. Why? Because it resolves the cognitive dissonance for the "base." The lie, or "truth" that comes in several contradictory versions, is not really relevant. Flooding the materials causes the erosion of the perception of reality, or the very existence of facts.

This has especially escalated since October 7th, when those entrusted with our security needed an alibi ("They didn't wake him up"), despite receiving severe warnings of war. Furthermore, it needs to be explained why so many people in the Prime Minister's inner circle were making a living from the Qatari government and damaging Israel-Egypt relations. That’s why the "betrayal from within" lie grew, echoed by politicians, "journalists," and of course, an army of sockpuppets. After all, an alternative reality must be provided, one where "we are guarding the nation’s security, the victory is absolute and the Left are the traitors," fitting the ultimate goal of the total erosion of the ability to distinguish between truth and lies.

2. Message Wholesalers – The Mouthpieces

There are media channels, journalists, and public figures who serve as the main sources of the lie. Channel 14, Galei Israel, Yinon Magal, Gadi Taub, Ayala Hasson, Motti Castel, Tamir Morag, and the list goes on. Beyond their regular professional activities, they provide respectability and a "Kosher stamp" on the engineering, the fakes, or the "just asking a few questions".

An example from recent weeks: a fake photo published on Yinon Magal's Telegram channel with a wink (😉) showing Bennett and Eisenkot "meeting" with Mansour Abbas. What do you want, it's just a joke? But the damage is done, the messages are running because, as we know, the truth is an option, sometimes, but definitely not a binding recommendation.

3. The Pumps: Share with all your might 

The pipes through which raw sewage is pumped before it flows into the open sea and pollutes the shores of our consciousness. These are WhatsApp and Telegram groups, open or semi-closed, with overtly patriotic names, often managed by parliamentary assistants or close shadow figures (Victor Shariki as a code name). That is where the order is given: to comment, to attack someone suspected of betraying the leader, or the tactical instruction to move from Facebook to Twitter and TikTok.

These groups are the power stations of chaos. There, the core idea of the talking points is transformed into holy rage, and that is where the machine’s true reserves are recruited, the volunteers.

4. The Volunteers: Cannon Fodder

Completely real people who spread the messages with enthusiasm and for free. There is a good chance they actually believe them. Bored pensioners, die-hard Bibi-ists, and just lonely people in a cold digital world who need meaning and belonging. Like all of us, right. These are the foot soldiers at the end of the chain. They pick up the message in a WhatsApp group, on Channel 14, or from their peers, resonate with it emotionally to their very core and keep spreading it with all their might.

The tragedy? They are the system's suckers. While the major message-generators and the mouthpieces are (mostly) legally cautious, the volunteers are the ones who get hit with defamation lawsuits. They will share fakes about "traitors" or slander protesters, journalists, or witnesses from the "Messiah" Netanyahu trial, only to find themselves in court facing lawsuits for sums far beyond their means, while the chaos-makers have long since moved on to the next spin.

5. Bots

"Bot" is short for the word "Robot," meaning automated software that responds online. Why is it good? Because they generate traffic and trick the algorithm, and by doing so, they bring every post to massive reach. Bot networks are usually from abroad, from Sri Lanka, or Nepal, or even Iran, which give likes and artificially inflate the "buzz." But a bot is stupid. It is easy to identify. When they tell you that "most internet traffic is bots," it is usually an inflated figure. The real danger is not in the software, but in those who look too real. And here we reach the premium product.

6. Sockpuppets

The definition of a sockpuppet is a fictitious profile managed by a real person, with a personality and a soul. The danger is that the puppet looks like your aunt and talks like your neighbor. A sockpuppet is a work of art in malice. It is much more than a user with numbers in their user name called "Dana from Hadera" with a stolen photo, opinions on MasterChef, and sometimes she even flirts.

It builds trust, like "Makimi Indig," and then spreads the daily lie. Sockpuppets are the test balloons for messages that politicians cannot (yet) say, a tool for the targeted character assassination of rivals, and an excellent tool for mind engineering. Ten characters, one person, zero conscience.

7. But what about you!

Is the opposition’s feed a garden of roses and polite Aristotelian discussion? Hah, don't make me laugh. There’s filth there too, curses, WhatsApp groups for helping distribute various posts (though their numbers are negligible compared to the other side), and yes, even the distribution of various fake news around conspiracy theories about "betrayal from within," only instead of hinting at a "spy from the south", they refer to that "complex Gulf state"…

But there is a difference in the scale and architecture: the messages flying from the "Bibism" machine usually come from the top, and suddenly within the chaos of contradictory messages, everyone is talking about that woman whose son stole a vest, or that guy who is actually a dangerous building offender. The other side mostly feels like a chaotic collection of panicked and disbelieving citizens, with no guiding hand or strategy. There is no "machine" there because they can barely agree on the time of day. More than it's mind engineering, it's a collective panic attack expressed through sharing Amir Sperling's posts.

Full Disclosure: Personal Story

Just to clarify once again how absurd this whole business is, here is a small personal story of how a joking response on Twitter turned into a rather groundless defamation lawsuit.

In August 2024, at the height of the Sde Teiman affair, the Twitter user (X) Nissim Sofer spread a duplicated (copy-paste) response to divert the fire from the events at the base to the video leak affair. When I saw the same duplicated text over and over again, I responded with the necessary sarcasm: "I hope they pay you well to be a siphon of the sewage machine."

Sofer, with the tediousness of someone who is just a supporting character even in a movie about his own life, challenged me to reveal my name (which was already visible anyway) and delete the response. I replied that I understood he was doing everything as a volunteer, and that my identity was not hidden, and I almost forgot about the matter.

And then it turned out that he is suing me for defamation. Because he claims I explicitly stated that he receives money for writing his opinions.

This lawsuit, as absurd and spiteful as it may be (it is in its early stages in the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court), demonstrates the climate that was created here: you are not allowed to mock the machine or anything that even resembles it; you are not allowed to point out the mind engineering, and you are not even allowed to use healthy sarcasm.

But, as anyone who sits on the toilet in winter and is surprised to find a slug on it discovers, sometimes there is no choice but to deal with the disgust and talk about the machine.

Which, by the way, claims that everything said about it, including this short article, is proof of the "terrible poison machine" of the Left. If we don't laugh about it, we'll truly have to cry.