Wall Street Journal /In Ljubljana, Slovenia, a private jet from Tel Aviv landed on a cold December night, bringing two operatives from an Israeli intelligence company often described by critics as a “private Mossad.”
The two men were transported by car to the headquarters of a far-right populist opposition party.
Local residents became suspicious of the foreign language and reported it to a local journalist and the police. Then, this month, the Slovenian intelligence service began contacting other European intelligence agencies to identify the visitors and unravel a case that has implications from Ukraine to Israel and the war in Iran.
According to Slovenian officials, these individuals were allegedly planning to influence the elections held on Sunday, aiming to discredit the ruling Freedom Movement party, which has publicly supported the Palestinians and Ukraine, and remove it from power.
In the end, although the party was predicted to lose according to most polls, it managed to narrowly win over the far-right Democratic Party of Slovenia. On Monday, March 23, its representatives declared that they were confident that they could form a government.
The results came after a campaign during which videos were released purporting to show figures close to the ruling party discussing ways to circumvent lobbying rules or misuse public funds.
According to the Slovenian government, these videos were organized by visitors who arrived in December, who were identified through airport records as Giora Eiland, the former head of Israel’s National Security Council, and Dan Zorella, a former Israeli military intelligence officer.
Eiland, a retired general, is a consultant to Black Cube, an Israeli company known for conducting surveillance and covert operations for various clients, including high-profile international cases. Zorella is the founder of the company. Black Cube did not respond to requests for comment, and Israel’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment. The Slovenian government has not said who allegedly ordered the operation, but says the contract “originated within Slovenia.”
Opposition leader Janez Janša initially claimed he was unaware of Black Cube, but later admitted he had met Eiland, although he could not remember when. He sent a statement to a media outlet saying:
More registrations are expected in the coming days.
His party then declared that “a monument should be erected in the center of Ljubljana for the Black Cube company.”
The ruling party turned the campaign into a referendum on Black Cube and the “paid spies” industry it represents. European governments rallied in support of Slovenia, condemning foreign interference. French President Emmanuel Macron said Slovenia “has been the victim of clear interference, disinformation and actions by third countries,” after Prime Minister Robert Golob complained to European leaders.
The Freedom Party has been critical of Israel and in 2024 recognized a Palestinian state, setting a precedent in Europe. Meanwhile, the opposition has pledged to withdraw recognition of Palestine and move the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem. It also aims to reach out to Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, and through him, the Trump administration, which has expressed support for the far right in Europe.
Orbán, a Trump ally, has blocked the use of some $100 billion in frozen Russian funds in Europe to finance Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction. He is expected to meet with Vice President JD Vance ahead of Hungary’s upcoming elections, which are expected to be close.
His victory in 2018 was reportedly supported by a Black Cube campaign that secretly recorded opposition figures and released audio recordings to pro-government media.
Slovenian authorities, in cooperation with European partners, have identified suspected Black Cube operatives who allegedly participated in the operation. They say the individuals used disguises and posed as investors looking to build data centers, contacting government-connected public figures and inviting them to luxury hotels in Vienna, London and Zagreb from December to February.
Later, short videos from these meetings were published on a website that went live this month.
They appeared to show public figures discussing illicit influence and other questionable behavior, which the opposition described as “evidence of corruption on an unprecedented scale.” The French agency Viginum, which monitors foreign interference, helped analyze the security camera footage, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Black Cube gained international notoriety in 2017 when an employee posed as a women’s rights activist to secretly record an actress on behalf of producer Harvey Weinstein as part of efforts to stop sexual harassment allegations. The company used methods similar to those of the espionage world, limiting information within small teams, and some of its members have been linked to the former head of Mossad.
It has also been linked to efforts to gather material against Alexei Navalny and a case of intimidating the head of anti-corruption in Romania. In 2018 in Hungary, individuals and organizations linked to businessman George Soros were contacted by agents with false identities and secretly recorded, while the material was manipulated to create a false political narrative.
In Slovenia, the alleged Black Cube operation has involved around six people.
One case began with an independent recruiter receiving a message on LinkedIn from clients in London expressing interest in financing data centers in the Balkans. The person in question stated that he was unaware of any connection to Black Cube and expressed concern, saying he would discontinue any cooperation.
A former justice minister, who received one of the contacts and is close to the current government, said that she was initially skeptical, but the professional responses convinced her for a while.
She agreed to an online meeting with an investment fund called Stockard Capital and then a physical meeting at a luxury hotel in Vienna, even though she thought they didn’t have enough knowledge about data centers.