Tunisia's first Jewish minister accuses rivals of hiring Israeli 'fake news' company

Tunisia's minister of tourism has accused political rivals of hiring an Israeli company to spread disinformation aimed at smearing the government.

Rene Trabelsi - the country's first Jewish minister - made the comments to a local radio station on Monday.

"Tunisian parties have hired this company to launch a smear campaign against the government and the president," Trabelsi said.

"Unfortunately, they are not happy to see the progress made by the government."

He failed to name those who allegedly hired the company but said they paid the company to disseminate misinformation online.

The comments come after Facebook earlier this month said it had banned the Israel-based Archimedes Group for running influence campaigns aimed at disrupting elections in various countries.

Tel Aviv-based political consulting and lobbying firm boasts of its social media skills and ability to "change reality".

Tunisia was among the countries targeted along with other Francophone African countries.

Tunisia, like the majority of other Arab and Muslim states, has no relations with Israel.