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Two cyber attacks were carried out against Israeli water infrastructure in recent weeks, Israeli media reported over the weekend. The Water Authority confirmed the report, but said no damage was done to Israel’s water system. One attack targeted agricultural water pumps in the upper Galilee, while the other struck infrastructure in the center of the country.
Officials did not say who carried out the attacks on the pump stations, but the attacks come amid a reportedly escalating tit-for-tat between Israel and Iran following an alleged April attack by Tehran on Israel’s drinking water.
Meanwhile, an explosion was reported on Sunday at a power station in the central Iranian province of Isfahan, the latest in a mysterious series of blasts and blazes that have occurred throughout the country. Isfahan is the region in which the Natanz nuclear facility, damaged in a July 2 explosion, is located.
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The cabinet on Sunday was set to approve Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to disburse a total of NIS 6 billion ($1.75 billion) to all Israelis to help cope with the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, as coalition tensions simmered over the government’s coronavirus policies.
On Friday, cabinet ministers approved a series of restrictions on public gatherings and venues in an effort to curb the second outbreak of the coronavirus, which has been gripping Israel over the past two weeks.
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The second hearing in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s corruption trial is set for Sunday at the Jerusalem District Court. Picking up from the opening hearing on May 24, this hearing is supposed to be decisive in setting the schedule for when the Jerusalem District Court will start hearing witnesses as well as how many hearings will be held per week.
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The Israeli government is set on Sunday to approve the agreement signed in January with Cyprus and Greece to advance the EastMed gas pipeline project. Once completed, the 1,900 km. pipeline will be the longest in the world. The bulk of it will be under the sea, but some portions will be on land.
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In a letter, some 236 American members of Congress as well as European lawmakers called on the European Union to “designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.” The European Union has already designated Hezbollah’s military wing a terrorist organization, but the letter seeks to halt the group’s political activities across the continent as well.
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Antisemitism Watch: Two synagogues in Sarasota, Florida, were vandalized with swastikas and other unspecified hateful messages.
A far-right politician in Canada is under investigation over a video and flyer in which he calls Jewish people a “parasitic tribe” and calls for them to be removed “once and for all” from the country.
More than a dozen California school boards have adopted resolutions in support of the state’s proposed ethnic-studies model curriculum, despite it having come under fire for containing antisemitic and anti-Israel content.
Recommended Reading
- Coronavirus unleashes new wave of antisemitism, xenophobia (Jonathan Harounoff, Stephanie Posner, Arman Amini)
- Everything you need to know about the Netanyahu trial and Israel’s rule of law (Paul Shindman)
- Far more unites Black and Jewish Americans than divides them (Ethan B. Katz and Deborah Lipstadt)
- BDS can be defeated on the political battleground (Asher Fredman)
- How exactly does Hezbollah threaten Israel? (Pesach Benson)
