Russia orchestrated antisemitic attacks in the West and embedded a covert influence network inside Israel, leaked correspondence published by an Estonian media outlet has revealed. The documents were analyzed by OCCRP (the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an international investigative journalism network), which published a full investigation based on the findings. The Israeli news site Shomrim participated in decoding the documents and contextualizing them for Israeli readers. According to the correspondence, Russia planned and carried out an attack on a synagogue and a Holocaust memorial in Paris in 2024, internally code-named "Green Synagogues." The correspondence leads to Sofia Zakharova, a senior Kremlin official who defined the goal of the influence operations as achieving "cognitive vulnerabilities" against Western countries to destabilize and weaken them.
The documents detail numerous actions – described internally as "cognitive strikes" against the West – including other vandalism attacks in France and Germany, efforts to promote pro-Russian messaging through Western opinion leaders, and election interference campaigns. In Western Europe, the Russians chose to use a cell of Serbian nationals, who carried out antisemitic acts primarily in France and Germany. The Serbs were caught by the authorities and tried in Paris. The men poured green paint on the Paris Holocaust museum and several synagogues, and left plastic pig heads – a deliberate antisemitic provocation – at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, a short distance from the Holocaust Memorial. The court in France determined that the purpose of the operation was to "incite religious and national intolerance" between Jews and Muslims, and to "destabilize" Germany and France.
The leaked files reference the synagogue operation and present its ultimate objective. In one exchange with Sofia, a user operating under the pen name "Edward Bernays" – an apparent ironic nod to the Austrian-American pioneer of modern propaganda – provides a project overview under the heading "Green Synagogues."
"The incident made front pages in world media," Bernays wrote. "The goal of the operation is to discredit the French authorities, who failed to stop the wave of Islamic antisemitism in Paris. A blow to Macron's image, who allowed himself to criticize Israel."
An influence operation inside Israel
In a separate incident, Zakharova's organization – using the Russian PR firm SDA – sought to establish an influence network inside Israel. In the leaked correspondence, senior Russian figures discussed the need to set up a "research institute" in Israel that would employ academics and intellectuals with the aim of shaping public opinion there. Although there is no evidence that the institute was ever established, budget calculations found in the leaked documents included $125,000 for the first six months, the selection of three Israeli founders, and the leasing of offices in Haifa.
The correspondence also indicates that Russia attempted to market its own speakers to Israeli media outlets, apparently without the speakers' knowledge. According to the correspondence, the Russians sought to promote articles by American General Paul Vallely. In one exchange, Sofia Zakharova wrote, "Preliminary agreements have been reached with major Israeli media outlets for Vallely to publish his 'own' columns with them. We are now preparing a letter from Vallely's organization [Stand Up America USA] to the media and are working on the financial aspect. The probability of success is 90%." She added, "Important: Vallely is close to Trump and is perceived accordingly."
In March 2025, TASS (Russia's state news agency) published quotes from an interview with Vallely that had aired on Galei Yisrael (an Israeli public radio station), in which he predicted "a swift change of regime in Ukraine and a warming of relations between Russia and the West."
The leaked documents do not indicate whether Vallely was aware that the people he was doing business with were acting on behalf of a Russian state-linked influence campaign. In a brief exchange with reporters, he said he did not recall the interview with Galei Yisrael and had no official ties to Russian entities.
