Armenian oligarch enlists Israeli political strategists ahead of elections

Armenian media report that Russian oligarch Samvel Karapetyan has engaged a team of Israeli political technologists, led by Moshe Klughaft, for approximately $500,000, ahead of Armenia’s upcoming elections.

The information comes from sources within Karapetyan’s political movement, Our Way,  Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

Klughaft, a renowned Israeli political PR strategist, has served as an advisor to Benjamin Netanyahu, directed the electoral campaign for the Israeli party The Jewish Home, and contributed to the campaign headquarters of Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.

In parallel, Armenian outlets claim that a larger team of Israeli specialists is producing disinformation content using artificial intelligence. Some team members are reportedly assisting with speeches by Narek Karapetyan, the nephew of the detained oligarch, extracting politically useful material from his statements.

"What the Karapetyans recognized is that they are too weak politically and require external support—that is understandable. However, the question remains: why import these technologies from Israel, especially given recent complaints by opposition PR specialists about inactivity?" the report notes.

Not all specialists are physically in Armenia; some operate remotely. One such operative, Stav Wolf, a Jewish social media specialist, is currently in the country coordinating the “formalists” online activities. Wolf has reportedly connected via Instagram with Armenian political figures Goar Meloyan and Levon Ayrapetyan. Sources estimate that the total remuneration for the Israeli team is around $500,000.

Pro-government media in Armenia have suggested public skepticism regarding the expenditures: “Citizens might naively believe that the ‘formalists’ spent $500,000 exclusively on Israeli PR specialists, only to gain a single dram in return, rather than pocketing a billion dollars.”

By Vafa Guliyeva