Iranian hacking group claims to seize damning info from phone of PM’s chief of staff |
A group of Iranian hackers claimed on Sunday that it had cracked the cellphone of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, and threatened to release information tying him to the Qatargate scandal.
The same group claimed last week to have broken into former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s phone.
In a statement on X, the Handala hack group said it had hacked into an iPhone 16 Pro Max belonging to Braverman, adding it would release later in the day details of his alleged involvement in the scandal that has roiled Netanyahu’s office.
The first files released purportedly contain phone numbers of top officials and others in Netanyahu’s inner circle, including the premier’s wife Sara Netanyahu.
There are also what appear to be innocuous videos and official documents, including one on emergency procedures put in place during the June war with Iran.
The group called its operation Bibi Gate, an apparent reference to the affair.
The Prime Minister’s Office told The Times of Israel, “No breach has been found. The issue is being investigated.”
“We have everything: encrypted chats, hidden deals, shameful moral and financial indulgences, abuse of power, blackmail, payoffs. For years, you performed your little dance, thinking Handala was not among you. But we were in........