France TV planned to give Israeli firm linked to Netanyahu access to millions of viewers' data

Submitted by Elis Gjevori on Tue, 10/06/2026 - 12:59 French public broadcaster staff feared Terrific's profiling of audience's political preferences could allow foreign interference ahead of elections

The logo of the French public television group France Televisions displayed on screens in Toulouse, on 12 March 2025 (AFP) Off

An Israeli data company whose co-owner has close ties to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to gain access to millions of viewers’ data through France’s public broadcaster, France Televisions.

The TV network swiftly cancelled the contract after Mediapart told France Televisions it would publish its findings about the deal.

According to Mediapart, the broadcaster’s management pushed through the appointment of Terrific to collect audience data for France 2’s flagship political programme “L’Heure de Vérité” (The Moment of Truth).

France Televisions is France’s most-watched television group, with its channels together accounting for 29.4 percent of TV viewing in 2025, according to its annual results.

Employees feared that giving the Israeli company access to sensitive data ahead of the 2027 presidential and legislative elections would threaten France’s security.

Founded in 2021, Terrific describes itself as a marketing and audience measurement agency. Its website lists partnerships with major technology companies, including Google, TikTok, Meta and LinkedIn.

Terrific’s founder, Israel Grintz, also heads NEAIG, a start-up specialising in political marketing, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Its other shareholder is Natan Eshel.

'Each time, the response was the same: ''Management wants to see this project through, we have to go ahead, it comes from higher up'''

- Mediapart

Eshel served as Netanyahu’s chief of staff between 2010 and 2012 and has remained a close adviser to the Israeli prime minister and his wife, Sara.

“From the moment the project was awarded to Terrific until the decision to definitively pull the plug, France Televisions management was fully aware of the risks involved,” said Mediapart.

“Numerous warnings were issued to several of the company's executives very early on. Each time, the response was the same: 'Management wants to see this project through, we have to go ahead, it comes from higher up',” the outlet reported.

France Televisions intended to use Terrific’s tool throughout the presidential campaign. Mediapart reported that its methods of aggregating data raised fears of foreign interference.

The company combines data from tracking tools embedded in applications it designs with clients. Such data could identify users’ political leanings and allow advertisers to target them with messages tailored to their views.

Employees feared that a foreign state could weaponise the tool to deliver personalised political advertising.

Israeli interference in French elections

'Attack on our democracy': Inside an Israeli influence campaign in France's local elections Read More »

Evidence of Israeli interference in French elections has already emerged.

Earlier this year, France’s interior minister, Laurent Nunez, said authorities would take legal action after revelations that an Israeli firm called BlackCore had run a disinformation campaign against left-leaning candidates during municipal elections in March.

Anne-Sophie Dhiver, deputy head of Viginum, France’s agency for combating online disinformation, told parliament that “a private company based in Israel that specialises in selling online destabilisation services” had attacked candidates who opposed Israel’s genocide in Gaza and apartheid in the occupied West Bank.

Dhiver said the agency could not identify who sponsored the campaign.

The Israeli government has also drawn closer in recent years to National Rally, France’s main far-right party, which leads opinion polls.

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