Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has admitted that his Telegram account was hacked, although his device was not compromised. He made the announcement following reports of a hacked iPhone and a data leak allegedly linked to an Iranian hacking group.
The statement followed publications by the Handala group, which claims to have gained access to the politician’s personal device as part of an operation dubbed “Octopus”.
Bennett himself has repeatedly used the octopus analogy, describing Iran as a coordination center for threats against Israel . In response to the accusations, he claimed that neither his smartphone nor any other devices had been hacked, but that access to his Telegram account had been gained “through various methods.”
According to him, unknown persons obtained material from his address book, images and correspondence.
Some of this data turned out to be authentic, while others were fake. One example is a doctored photo of him standing next to Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. Bennett noted that the material was obtained illegally and its distribution constitutes a crime.
The politician stated that the incident is already under surveillance by security forces. He believes it is an attempt to destabilize his political activities ahead of the upcoming elections, where he is seen as a serious competitor to incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He believes the pressure attempts are linked to his opponents’ fears regarding his return to high-level politics. Despite what has happened, he intends to continue his activities and his election campaign.
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