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The false rocket sirens heard throughout Jerusalem and Eilat on Sunday evening could have been the result of an Iranian cyberattack.
According to reports by both Israel’s Home Front Command and the Israel National Cyber Directorate, the hour-long false alarms that were heard in different neighborhoods of Jerusalem and Eilat were the result of a cyberattack against each city’s municipal siren systems.
Yair Golan, a former IDF Deputy Chief of Staff and current Member of Knesset, added in an interview that the attack could have been conducted by Iran. Golan deemed the cyberattack “worrying and disturbing” and called for any breach point to be closed immediately.
If Iran is behind the false rocket alarms, it would be the latest in a long line of Iranian cyberattacks against Israel that include the hacking of Israeli websites and the hijacking of emails belonging to Israeli politicians and diplomats.
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According to sources in both Israel’s coalition and opposition parties, it is unlikely that Naftali Bennett’s teetering government will fall this week.
An opposition bill brought by the Likud that would dissolve the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, and initiate elections will most likely be postponed until next week. This bill would require the support of maverick Yamina lawmaker Nir Orbach, who has stated his preference for forming a new government within the current Knesset over dissolving the Knesset altogether.
A second attempt by the coalition to extend the Judea and Samaria emergency bill will also be postponed until next week. This bill, which maintains the emergency regulations over Israeli citizens in the West Bank, is usually passed quietly every five years but has recently become a weapon in the opposition’s fight to bring down the government.
In related Knesset news, opposition member Bezalel Smotrich is planning on bringing a bill that would extend Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank’s Area C to a vote this week, in order to embarrass the right-wing members of the government who would be forced to vote against it.
One of the coalition votes needed to block this bill is that of Blue & White’s Michael Biton, who is currently boycotting Knesset votes as a protest against the government’s planned public transportation reform.
Biton’s Knesset boycott might be coming to a close as he recently held a positive and constructive meeting with Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli.
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According to a recent report by Israel’s Channel 13 news, security officials are growing concerned over possible threats to Israeli travelers in the UAE, Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain.
Citing unnamed sources, the report claimed that Iranian operatives might target Israelis in the aforementioned countries if they fail to carry out planned attacks against Israelis in Turkey.
For the past few weeks, Israeli officials have been warning against travel to Turkey as there are concrete threats of Iranian hit squads planning to kidnap or kill Israelis. According to reports, several planned attacks against Israelis have already been foiled by Turkish authorities working alongside their Israeli counterparts.
Last week, Israelis in Turkey were advised by security officials to leave immediately or, if they could not leave, to stay in their hotel rooms as there was active intelligence about a possible attack against Israeli citizens.
The Iranian threat to Israelis in Turkey and elsewhere comes as Tehran seeks to avenge the May killing of a senior Revolutionary Guard member.
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Various Jewish American organizations observed Juneteenth, an American federal holiday that commemorates the emancipation of American slaves at the end of the Civil War.
Juneteenth, an amalgam of the words “June” and “nineteenth,” is named for the day in 1865 on which over 250,000 African-American slaves in Texas were notified by Union soldiers that they were officially emancipated.
To commemorate the day, the American Jewish Congress tweeted “On this day we reflect on the struggle for freedom in America for people of color and recommit to working to create a more just society without racism, bigotry, and hate.”
Similarly, the Anti-Defamation League wrote that “We must stay committed to the fight for racial equality,” with the World Jewish Congress tweeting that “We recommit ourselves to the work of equality.”
Juneteenth was officially declared an American federal holiday by President Biden in 2021 after a concerted effort by both activists and politicians.
Recommended Reading
- Andrée Geulen, Belgian Woman Who Rescued Hundreds of Jewish Children, Dies at 100 (Ron Kampeas, Times of Israel)
- Tel Aviv Tops Israel’s Most LGBT-Friendly Cities List for Another Year (Jerusalem Post)
- Condemning the ‘Mapping Project’ Isn’t Enough (Jonathan S. Tobin, Israel Hayom)
- Congress Must Defund the UN’s Poisoned Pillay Report (Mark Goldfeder, Jewish News Syndicate)
- How Israel Is Using Gas Exports to Boost Its Diplomatic Standing (Yaakov Katz and David Brinn, Jerusalem Post)
