A Portrait of Israeli Meddling in Slovenia
The liberal incumbent looks to have narrowly won Sunday's election, but Israeli intelligence agents still got something they wanted
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Pretty little Slovenia. The Alpine state of just over two million people is roughly the size of New Jersey, but it punches far above its weight in international intrigue. First, there is the country’s native daughter and American first lady, Melanija Knavs, who was plucked from relative obscurity and brought to the United States to model by an Epstein associate who would later introduce her to Donald Trump. Then there was the Russian sleeper cell: In late 2022, a “normal-looking” Ljubljana couple with two children were arrested by police in one of the most secretive operations in the country’s history. It turns out the pair were “illegals”–Russian agents under deep cover, living with false identities. Not even their children knew who their parents really were, or that they were Russian.
The latest scandal is perhaps the most consequential, as it involves foreign intelligence agents engaged in campaign manipulation–and the tactics of the mafia–at the highest levels of power. On Sunday, Slovenia held its parliamentary elections, in an atmosphere charged with acrimony. The incumbent left-liberal coalition led by the Svoboda (“freedom”) Movement looks to have eked out the slenderest of victories, which would dash the hopes of the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) of former Prime Minister Janez Janša. However, as of this morning, there was a less than 7,800-vote difference between Svoboda and SDS, meaning once mail-in ballots are counted, the official result, which will be announced on April 7, could look slightly different. But what currently looks like a very modest win for Svoboda came with a steep cost.
A few weeks ago, Slovenia’s indispensable Mladina (“youth”) published an investigative piece by Borut Mekina about Israeli meddling in the campaign. According to their investigation, SDS officials, including Janša, worked with the private Israeli spy firm Black Cube on an elaborate operation to manipulate public perceptions ahead of the vote. Black Cube engaged in “covert surveillance and wiretapping” of officials from the governing coalition. Posing as potential investors, Black Cube employees wined and dined government officials while recording them in secret. Then, a few weeks ahead of the vote, an anonymous website appeared online in English: anti-corruption2026.com. The site linked to clandestinely recorded videos of officials from Svoboda discussing their political relationships; in many cases, the content of these conversations is more embarrassing than criminal. But Janša and SDS maintain that the videos reveal evidence of corruption in the government of Prime Minister Robert Golob. Among the most contentious issues involved was the purchase of a partially derelict building in Ljubljana for several times what it cost just a few years earlier. Meanwhile, Janša has admitted to meeting with a Black Cube associate, but denies hiring the firm to work for SDS directly. Slovenia’s Intelligence and Security Agency (SOVA) has confirmed that Black Cube indeed interfered in the campaign.
But there is more going on here than meets the eye. While Black Cube is officially private, it has extensive ties to the Israeli government: the firm was founded by former Mossad agents, and one of the Israelis that Janša met with last year was Black Cube advisor Giora Eiland, who used to serve as head of Israel’s National Security Council. This matters because of the position Slovenia has taken on Israel in recent years. Last year, Slovenia became the first country in Europe to impose an arms embargo on Israel. It also banned Israeli cabinet members Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country. In December, the public broadcaster pulled out of Eurovision in protest of Israel’s participation. But it was reports that Slovenia would join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that drew the greatest ire in Tel Aviv.
On Friday, the Israeli MFA tweeted:
Indeed, on March 12, Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon had announced that Slovenia was reversing its decision and would not join the ICJ genocide case. She said that national security experts had told officials that joining the lawsuit “would jeopardize Slovenia’s national security”, warning that “many of the country’s cyber defense systems are of Israeli origin.” When asked if the country had been subjected to external pressure, she answered in the affirmative. “It is clear that these pressures exist, we are all subjected to them by superpowers, and ultimately this must be taken into account when deciding,” she said. “But again, one thing is principled stances, another might be questions of national security.”
Given the timing of this announcement, some have speculated that Israel agreed to let up on some of the campaign interference in exchange for Slovenia’s agreement not to join South Africa’s genocide case at the ICJ. Either way, it’s clear that the Slovenian government was subjected to extensive external pressure.
In Alpine miniature, the Slovenian example thus reveals the way Israeli intelligence agents manipulate the internal affairs of foreign states. Using mafia-style tactics of questionable legality, and aligning with odious figures like Janša, they shape campaigns, how populations perceive their own leadership, and how and if sovereign countries engage with international humanitarian law.
The EU and NATO–usually rather vocal about the whole foreign interference thing–now have to decide if they will actually confront this or look the other way. Just a few years ago, a Romanian election was cancelled when the winner was thought to have secured his victory with pro-Russian propaganda on TikTok. Israel’s foreign interference in Slovenia has been far more egregious and aggressive. And if it’s not stopped now, it may be coming to an election near you.