Israeli intelligence firm helped right wing party win Hungary’s elections – report

Black Cube, an Israeli consultant firm, was reportedly involved in a campaign to help the incumbent Hungary prime minister get re-elected. 

By: World Israel News Staff  

A consultant firm made up of former Israeli intelligence agents helped incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his rightwing Fidesz part win Hungary’s April elections.

According to the Internet news site Politico, the Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube collected disparaging information to discredit leftwing NGOs opposed to Orban and Fidesz.

Many of the NGOs were backed by American-Hungarian businessman George Soros.

A person with knowledge of Black Cube’s inner workings told Politico that the Hungarian NGOs were contacted by agents using false identities who secretly recorded the conversations.

The recordings, which began appearing in The Jerusalem Post and the Hungarian government-controlled daily paper Magyar Idők three weeks before the election, were used by Orban to attack independent civil society organizations during the last days of the campaign.

Orban’s right-wing Fidesz party went on to win in a landslide.

Sources familiar with Black Cube said they did not know who paid for the operation or whether the Hungarian government was involved.

Black Cube said in response: “It is Black Cube’s policy to never discuss its clients with any third party, and to never confirm or deny any speculation made with regard to the company’s work. Referencing Black Cube has become an international sport in 2018, and apparently it is considered to be more exciting even than the football World Cup to some media outlets.

“Black Cube supports the work of many leading law firms around the world, while gathering evidence for complex legal processes, and for that purpose alone. Anyone claiming otherwise is misleading their readers. It is important to note that Black Cube always operates in full compliance of the law in every jurisdiction in which it conducts its work, following legal advice from the world’s leading law firms.”