Black Cube, leaked tapes and corruption: Israeli spy firm crashes Slovenia’s election

Submission statement: Revelations over a foreign interference operation by an Israeli intelligence firm to favor the right-wing populist candidate Janez Janša over the liberal, pro-EU PM Robert Golob in March 22's legislative elections, highlighting how foreign powers hostile to the EU are trying to weaken the bloc.

In early March, a video went viral in Slovenia, showing allies of Robert Golob describing potential corruption schemes to investors, who were actually spies for the Israeli firm Black Cube. Golob's chief rival, former PM Janez Janša, has seized the moment and declared that a monument should be erected to Black Cube's glory in Ljubljana for "uncovering" the scheme.

Slovenian intelligence services (SOVA) acknowledged that members of Black Cube frequently visited Slovenia in recent months leading to the election, asserting that they were spotted "making a lengthy stop" in the street where the SDS, Janez Janša's party, is headquartered, suggesting a coordinated plot by Janša and Black Cube and a broader political conspiracy.

Black Cube was founded by former Mossad chief Meir Dagan and maintains close ties with Israeli intelligence services and the IDF; they notably intervened on behalf of Viktor Orban in 2018 to collect data and kompromat on critics of the Hungarian government, notably NGOs providing aid to migrants or Soros' Open Society Foundation, a frequent target of Orban's authoritarian methods.

Robert Golob, who heads a left-liberal coalition, is running for a second term in office, in a tight race against his predecessor Janez Janša, who has been in and out of power since 2004 as the country's main conservative politician. Golob denounced Black Cube's scheme as a foreign interference from Israel threatening the democratic process in Slovenia; under Golob's premiership, Slovenia recognized the State of Palestine and pivoted towards a more pro-Palestinian foreign policy aligned on Spain and Ireland, while Janez Janša, close in style and policies to Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, is identified with the most pro-Israel wings of the European right-wing.