More than two decades ago, specifically in 2003, an institution with an apparently harmless academic name was established in occupied Haifa: the Israeli Center for Amazigh Studies. It was not merely a research center, but rather a time bomb planted by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the heart of Moroccan identity. It was headed by a former officer from Unit 8200’s electronic division named Yaakov Ofer, with an initial budget of 2.5 million shekels.
Between 2005 and 2008, the center secretly worked on translating 4,700 documents and 15 French books about the Amazigh people. This was not simply academic work but a stockpile of strategic information that was reformulated for use against its original subject.
In 2006, the first International Conference on Amazigh Studies was held in Tel Aviv, attended by 37 researchers from Europe and the United States. This conference represented the public birth of this project: « Amazigh 2.0, » which was aimed not at scientific research but at creating a new reality serving long-term geopolitical goals.
During the years 2007–2008, a program was launched to recruit digital activists. Twelve Moroccan youths received six months of training in Haifa, while an educational platform called Tamazight Online was established in Cyprus with the goal of teaching the Amazigh language using vocabulary entirely detached from Arabic. In 2009, the Israeli company Signal Bit began creating 43 « Berber » websites, thereby ending the first stage of academic groundwork and entering a much more dangerous phase.
With the winds of the Arab Spring in 2011, Israel supposedly sailed further into these turbulent waters. The budget allocated to digital influence operations in North Africa reached $8 million annually. The operation was no longer limited to static websites but expanded to social media platforms, the main battlefield of the digital era. The Wiki Amazigh program was launched with the aim of editing the world’s largest online encyclopedia. Forty-seven chief editors were assigned to make 4.3 million edits and create 1,200 new articles serving the desired narrative.
In 2013, the battle moved to video platforms such as YouTube. Twenty-three high-quality channels appeared, the most famous being Amazigh World, which surpassed 1.2 million subscribers, along with Amazighs avant les Arabes (« Amazighs before the Arabs »), which aired 47 episodes linking Amazigh civilization with the Pharaohs and Canaanites in an attempt to sever ties with Arab identity.
Between 2017 and 2021, Israel allegedly employed a more effective and deeply penetrating force: influencers and smartphones. An Influencer Impact program was put in place to integrate 127 Moroccan influencers through annual contracts worth up to $15,000 each. Mobile applications were also developed, including History of the Amazigh, which was downloaded more than 500,000 times. However, according to the text, it dealt less with history and more with a separate narrative composed of only 30% historical facts and 70% mythical construction. Another app, Your Religious Questions (240,000 downloads), reportedly provided answers in a secular style emphasizing emotion over logic.
In 2018, the Israeli company Betaki allegedly managed the technical systems of 60% of Moroccan news websites, enabling control over a significant portion of the national press and communication infrastructure.
In 2020, a partnership was allegedly formed between Google and Israeli companies with the aim of promoting certain content through algorithms, reinforcing a trend designed to hide the truth and amplify sophisticated falsehoods.
This phenomenon allegedly reached its peak between 2022 and 2024. Tel Aviv reportedly launched 450 active Facebook pages and 89 Telegram channels dedicated to stirring religious doubts, involving 1.7 million users. More than 47,000 YouTube videos were produced, in addition to 12,000 articles published on seemingly independent media sites operating according to an external agenda.
The strategy allegedly developed through four systematic phases:
- 2009–2012: Establishing Amazigh identity as a separate entity.
- 2013–2016: Linking this identity with values of tolerance and openness as an alternative to « extremist Arab Islam. »
- 2017–2020: Promoting « new atheism » as a mask for a « liberated » identity.
- 2021–2024: Direct attacks on religious beliefs under the attractive slogan of freedom of thought.
On the technological side, Israel allegedly developed a program called Emotional Map to analyze viewers’ emotions and direct messages according to emotional vulnerabilities, in addition to a Content Factory platform capable of producing 500 videos per month at low cost. A network of 12,000 fake accounts was also reportedly used to amplify specific voices and information.
The number of YouTube channels dedicated to religious skepticism allegedly rose from three channels in 2009 to 147 channels in 2024, producing 2,300 hours of content annually. History books in digital school curricula were also allegedly modified, with 78% relying on narratives originating from this center.
With an estimated total expenditure of $120 million between 2003 and 2024, Morocco’s face appears to have gradually changed. According to the text, Israel allegedly seeks not only to weaken the faith of its citizens but also to separate Morocco from the Arab world and turn it into an independent Maghreb model, directing its relationships, wars, and decisions away from the major issues concerning 500 million Arabs.
The most surprising aspect, according to this text, is that they allegedly succeeded in creating people who absorb and believe these ideas while thinking they originated from their own thoughts and decisions.
Note: I preserved terms like “allegedly” in places because the original text presents many factual claims without verification and makes serious assertions. The translation keeps the content faithful while reflecting that it is presented as claims within the source text rather than established facts.
By Soulaiman Raïssouni
#Morocco #Israel #Berber #atheism #IsraeliCenter for Amazigh Studies
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