Israel-Iran Cyber Warfare Heats Up, Exploiting Israeli Internal Divide
In recent years, foreign states and groups, primarily Iran, have been orchestrating cyber campaigns aimed at destabilising Israel and its institutions. The latest offensive, exposed on Saturday, involved thousands of fake Instagram posts revealing personal details of Israeli police officers, disguised as an attack by Israel’s anti-government protesters.
The affair gained attention when Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir took the bait, ignoring warnings and treating the posts as authentic. Ben-Gvir accused the protest movement of posting photos of police officers, along with their personal phone numbers, to intimidate them and prevent them from carrying out their duties.
Israel and Iran are in an undeclared state of war, but the interests of some groups on opposing sides occasionally overlap. Ben-Gvir played into the hands of the false news campaign, reacting as if the posts were genuine news and facts.
“This is a serious and dangerous crossing of a red line designed to harm the police officers and their families,” tweeted Ben-Gvir, chair of the Jewish Power party.
Ben-Gvir also posted photos of a designated Telegram channel called “Bogdim” (“Traitors”), supposedly devoted to exposing police officers. However, the Shin Bet security agency and the police believe the minister was duped by false information spread by a foreign state, likely Iranian hackers. The profiles of users allegedly exposing the police had been taken over by hackers and used to post the information.
Despite expert opinions, Ben-Gvir’s tweet remained online, with only a vague clarification added. For him, the accusations against the protesters served their purpose – to tarnish the persistent pro-democracy protest against the government’s planned judicial coup.
