Israeli media: Here are Israeli counselors orchestrating Edi Rama's political campaign and Lulzim Basha

On 24 May, 2020, Jonathan Warch, a spokesman for Likud, a close adviser to the Israeli prime minister and friend of Netanyah's son Yair, posted four tweets in support of the prime minister, who was expected to stand trial that day as head of government.

Then he stopped postings, his account at the Instagram was “shua” and he stopped answering journalists' questions. Before that date, Urich was a known name for a certain type of news consumer.

After Israel's third round of elections, he declared on TV that Netanyah had achieved the greatest victory in Israel's history. (Lickud won 36 impressive seats, but it was not enough to form a government without the White Party, which had won 33 seats. )

The campaign was also directed at those who were “fighting” leader.

So where'd Uriah go?

In Albania, and apparently he was not alone.

The fields for Rama or Basha?

On 25 April, incumbent Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, of the Socialist Party, won re-election against Lulzim Basha, the head of the country's conservative Democratic Party and a former mayor of Tirana.

Basha, a former lawyer who investigated war crimes for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, has faced Rama, a former deputy, in several local and national elections over the past few years.

The Socialists won enough votes last month to get 74 of the Albanian parliament's 140 seats, receiving the majority of votes. The Democratic Party won 59 seats, which means it will continue to lead the opposition together with part of the smaller parties.

Behind the stages of the two candidates were Israeli political operatives' contingents who imported Israeli-style campaigns to Albania, including strategies for leading voter engagement, use of social media and targeting audiences, all put into place in the local Albanian language.

For the best part of the last decade's policy, Israeli pollsters and strategists have become a major pillar during the elections in Albania and other Eastern European countries, including Serbia, Ukraine, Kosovo and Romania, which do work no different from US political advisers. A. to.

Urich himself this time was on the losing side, advising Basha along with Asaph Shariv, a former communications adviser to late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the former Israeli consul in New York; Israel Enhorn, an executive of the commercials and adviser to Netanyahu; and Ad Timor, a consultant with expertise in international campaigns, including Africa. While Warch claimed Netanyah had won an unprecedented victory, Rama actually made history, becoming the first prime minister three times in the country's history.

The one who helped Rama's campaign was Tal Silberstein, who served as a strategic adviser to Gideon Sayar in the March 2021 campaign and has been a major pillar of other campaigns in Europe. Also on his side were Assaf Eisen, who has worked for many years in Albania and many other countries; Ido Stossel, who advised labists in March; and Shuki Shapira, who was spokesman for former Meretz MK Ilan Gilon.

In Tirana and elsewhere in Europe, the Israelites are seen as owners of social media political campaigns, with specialised knowledge of the use of technology to promote votes, organise databases and coordinate messages. (The fact that Israelite counselors are practicing in four almost successive choices means that they are successful.)

Throughout Europe, Israelis maintain an atmosphere of being magicians in the digital campaign, and Tel Aviv's proximity to Europe (Tirana is three hours away by plane) has also helped boost business for Israeli strategists.

Less than 3 million people live in Albania, but the country allows for voting of non-residents, for those abroad and potential voters there are 3.6 million or more. To reach those abroad, communication with social media is especially important.

But despite the number of Israelis involved in Albanian elections, social media remained a very small part of party strategies. According to local news site JOQ Albania, Rama spent very little $88,000 on Facebook advertising, which still exceeded Basha's $36,000 worth of direct campaigns through the platform.

The spread of Israeli advisers in European elections means that sometimes strategists who work for parties that are even opposed. In Israel, for example, both Timor and Zilberstein worked for Saʹar, but in Albania they were on opposite sides of the ballot box.

Like Urich travelled to Tirana                    

Urich was a very late addition to Basha's campaign, the Times of Israel has taught, joining mainly through his personal ties with Einhorn. It flew only to Tirana as the campaign closed in April, following Israel's elections in late March.

His role with Licusd is less than crystal right now. While a party spokesman insists that Urich “is the spokesman and adviser to Prime Minister”, three “concern is placed for Albania.

In December 2020, the “twinged” of the Times of Israel, Zaman Yisrale reported that Urich was seen meeting businessmen in Dubai in Amit Hadad's office, Netanyah defence lawyer, another sign he might seek to expand beyond Tweet's tweets.

According to estimates by people familiar with this issue, speaking on condition of anonymity, the Urich's decision to lower its profile on the internet was largely due to a criminal investigation into allegations he “stepbycoi” state witness Shlomo Filber, a key figure in the most serious criminal case against Netanyah.

Urich refused to answer the Times of Israel's answers to this article and has, in fact, stopped answering journalists' questions at all. Questions for the party answered another spokesman. However, he seems to still be a close adviser to Netanyah. Nir Hefetz, a former Netanyah adviser who has also agreed to testify against the prime minister, recently posted on Twitter a photo of Warch with other Netanyah advisers going to a press conference.