27 may 2019
The prime minister's 27-year-old offspring, Yair, uses Twitter to lambaste other countries and their leaders, express support for far-right European politician and scold those he deems insufficiently supportive of Israel
Four thousand invited guests at an Independence Day celebration last month in Miami, co-hosted by the Israeli consulate there, were surprised to see that alongside video greetings from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and two of his cabinet ministers, was a message on behalf of the State of Israel from Netanyahu's eldest son, Yair.
The 27-year-old is not an elected official, nor does he hold any position in the government, but this is not the first time he has weighed in on questions of foreign policy. So often has it happened, in fact, that some in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem wonder if he is eyeing a job in the diplomatic corps.
On Monday, the young Netanyahu managed to upset Spain's leadership when he tweeted that Muslims should expel Spain from its North African outposts of Melilla and Ceuta.
Earlier this month, he directed a tweet at German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who released a statement congratulating Israel on the 70th anniversary of its induction into the United Nations. Yair tweeted in response: "It will be nice if you stop interfering in our internal business and stop funding hundreds of radical left-wing NGOs in Israel that seek its destruction."
The Netanyahu scion also dabbled in the recent European parliamentary elections, sending messages of support to almost every far-right European leader, including Hungary's Victor Orban, Nigel Farage in the UK, Matteo Salvini in Italy and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands.
He also engaged in a Twitter spat with Tommy Corbyn, the son of British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, an outspoken critic of Israel.
Finally, Yair enraged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when he referred to Istanbul by its former name of Constantinople, prompting the Turkish leader to suggest the prime minister discipline his unruly son.
Four thousand invited guests at an Independence Day celebration last month in Miami, co-hosted by the Israeli consulate there, were surprised to see that alongside video greetings from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and two of his cabinet ministers, was a message on behalf of the State of Israel from Netanyahu's eldest son, Yair.
The 27-year-old is not an elected official, nor does he hold any position in the government, but this is not the first time he has weighed in on questions of foreign policy. So often has it happened, in fact, that some in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem wonder if he is eyeing a job in the diplomatic corps.
On Monday, the young Netanyahu managed to upset Spain's leadership when he tweeted that Muslims should expel Spain from its North African outposts of Melilla and Ceuta.
Earlier this month, he directed a tweet at German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who released a statement congratulating Israel on the 70th anniversary of its induction into the United Nations. Yair tweeted in response: "It will be nice if you stop interfering in our internal business and stop funding hundreds of radical left-wing NGOs in Israel that seek its destruction."
The Netanyahu scion also dabbled in the recent European parliamentary elections, sending messages of support to almost every far-right European leader, including Hungary's Victor Orban, Nigel Farage in the UK, Matteo Salvini in Italy and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands.
He also engaged in a Twitter spat with Tommy Corbyn, the son of British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, an outspoken critic of Israel.
Finally, Yair enraged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when he referred to Istanbul by its former name of Constantinople, prompting the Turkish leader to suggest the prime minister discipline his unruly son.
Lebanon's Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 15, 2018
Amazon has removed a book written by Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem from its bookstore under Israeli pressure after UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis recommended it as “a necessary reading.”
The American company removed the book from its sales sites in the US and all over the world after Haim Iserovich, a reporter from the Hebrew-language Maariv daily, asked for its withdrawal.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Maariv’s sister paper Iserovich first started investigating the book after Kubis met Qassem and praised his book last week.
Kubis wrote on Twitter on May 20 that he was “grateful for an open and substantive discussion on a broad range of topics with Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem of Hezbollah. On top I received a copy of his book — a necessary reading.”
Kubis’ remark angered Tel Aviv. “We are shocked and disappointed by this meeting,” the regime's foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted.
The UN official did not specify which of the Hezbollah official's 11 books he had received, but Iserovich found that at least one of these books - “Hizbullah (Hezbollah): The Story from Within” - was being sold by Amazon.
The Maariv reporter noted that the book says Zionism violates the most basic human rights and that “Zionists took over Palestinian land, carrying out aggression against a peaceful Palestinian people.”
The reporter said that the promotion of the book on Amazon.com violates the US sanctions imposed on Qassem, which ban US citizens and businesses from having any financial contact with him.
The US has long labeled Hezbollah as a “terrorist organization”.
In May 2018, the US and Persian Gulf allies imposed additional sanctions on the Hezbollah leadership, targeting the group’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his deputy as well as three other officials with the movement.
Hezbollah was established following the 1982 Israeli invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon.
The movement waged a resistance campaign against Israeli forces and pushed them out of southern Lebanon in May 2000.
Since then, the group has grown into a powerful military force. Israel also suffered a humiliating defeat from Hezbollah during a 33-day war in July 2006.
Amazon has removed a book written by Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem from its bookstore under Israeli pressure after UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis recommended it as “a necessary reading.”
The American company removed the book from its sales sites in the US and all over the world after Haim Iserovich, a reporter from the Hebrew-language Maariv daily, asked for its withdrawal.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Maariv’s sister paper Iserovich first started investigating the book after Kubis met Qassem and praised his book last week.
Kubis wrote on Twitter on May 20 that he was “grateful for an open and substantive discussion on a broad range of topics with Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem of Hezbollah. On top I received a copy of his book — a necessary reading.”
Kubis’ remark angered Tel Aviv. “We are shocked and disappointed by this meeting,” the regime's foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted.
The UN official did not specify which of the Hezbollah official's 11 books he had received, but Iserovich found that at least one of these books - “Hizbullah (Hezbollah): The Story from Within” - was being sold by Amazon.
The Maariv reporter noted that the book says Zionism violates the most basic human rights and that “Zionists took over Palestinian land, carrying out aggression against a peaceful Palestinian people.”
The reporter said that the promotion of the book on Amazon.com violates the US sanctions imposed on Qassem, which ban US citizens and businesses from having any financial contact with him.
The US has long labeled Hezbollah as a “terrorist organization”.
In May 2018, the US and Persian Gulf allies imposed additional sanctions on the Hezbollah leadership, targeting the group’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his deputy as well as three other officials with the movement.
Hezbollah was established following the 1982 Israeli invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon.
The movement waged a resistance campaign against Israeli forces and pushed them out of southern Lebanon in May 2000.
Since then, the group has grown into a powerful military force. Israel also suffered a humiliating defeat from Hezbollah during a 33-day war in July 2006.
17 may 2019
Amnesty International says the Israeli firm behind a recent security breach that targeted human rights activists using the WhatsApp messenger app must be held into account for its close ties with repressive regimes.
In a statement on Thursday, Amnesty urged the Israeli regime to revoke export licenses of the notorious Israeli IT firm NSO, which designed the spyware linked to the WhatsApp breach.
The London-based rights group told Reuters that the company's deeds "resulted in human rights abuses."
WhatsApp, a unit of Facebook, admitted Tuesday that hackers had managed to use the security breach on its messaging app to target human rights activists.
Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, said WhatsApp had informed human rights groups that the spyware was likely developed by Israel's NSO. This was also confirmed by another person familiar with the matter.
In an emailed statement to Reuters, Amnesty asserted that NSO has "again and again demonstrated their intent to avoid responsibility for the way their software is used."
It said only the Israeli regime at its highest ranks could intervene and stop the company.
NSO said after the WhatsApp breach that it would investigate any "credible allegations of misuse" of its technology which "is solely operated by intelligence and law enforcement agencies."
WhatsApp, one of the world’s most popular messaging tools which is used by 1.5 billion people monthly, said it had fixed the exploit in its latest update and asked the US Department of Justice to help with an investigation into the breach.
Read More:
Saudi traces
Among the targets of the the new WhatsApp exploit was a UK-based human rights lawyer, who is helping a Saudi dissident and several Mexican journalists launch civil cases against NSO.
They charge that NSO has sold Saudi and Mexican governments hacking tools to hack into their phones, the lawyer said, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Novalpina, NSO's biggest shareholder, told Amnesty in a May 15 letter signed by founding partner Stephen Peel that it was "determined to do whatever is necessary to ensure that NSO technology is used for the purpose for which it is intended – the prevention of harm to fundamental human rights arising from terrorism and serious crime – and not abused in a manner that undermines other equally fundamental human rights."
An unnamed WhatsApp spokesman told France 24 that all the malware needed to infiltrate the target smart phones were missed calls through the app’s voice calling function.
According to the source, an unknown number of users were infected with the malware.
The WhatsApp spokesman said the attack had “all the hallmarks of a private company that has been known to work with governments to deliver spyware that has the ability to take over mobile phone operating systems".
NSO’s spyware has repeatedly been used in hacking attacks against journalists, lawyers, human rights advocates and dissidents.
The spyware first made the headlines when it was implicated in the Riyadh regime's gruesome murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October. His body has yet to be found.
PressTV-Experts who linked Israel firm to Khashoggi killing targeted
In a statement on Thursday, Amnesty urged the Israeli regime to revoke export licenses of the notorious Israeli IT firm NSO, which designed the spyware linked to the WhatsApp breach.
The London-based rights group told Reuters that the company's deeds "resulted in human rights abuses."
WhatsApp, a unit of Facebook, admitted Tuesday that hackers had managed to use the security breach on its messaging app to target human rights activists.
Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, said WhatsApp had informed human rights groups that the spyware was likely developed by Israel's NSO. This was also confirmed by another person familiar with the matter.
In an emailed statement to Reuters, Amnesty asserted that NSO has "again and again demonstrated their intent to avoid responsibility for the way their software is used."
It said only the Israeli regime at its highest ranks could intervene and stop the company.
NSO said after the WhatsApp breach that it would investigate any "credible allegations of misuse" of its technology which "is solely operated by intelligence and law enforcement agencies."
WhatsApp, one of the world’s most popular messaging tools which is used by 1.5 billion people monthly, said it had fixed the exploit in its latest update and asked the US Department of Justice to help with an investigation into the breach.
Read More:
Saudi traces
Among the targets of the the new WhatsApp exploit was a UK-based human rights lawyer, who is helping a Saudi dissident and several Mexican journalists launch civil cases against NSO.
They charge that NSO has sold Saudi and Mexican governments hacking tools to hack into their phones, the lawyer said, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Novalpina, NSO's biggest shareholder, told Amnesty in a May 15 letter signed by founding partner Stephen Peel that it was "determined to do whatever is necessary to ensure that NSO technology is used for the purpose for which it is intended – the prevention of harm to fundamental human rights arising from terrorism and serious crime – and not abused in a manner that undermines other equally fundamental human rights."
An unnamed WhatsApp spokesman told France 24 that all the malware needed to infiltrate the target smart phones were missed calls through the app’s voice calling function.
According to the source, an unknown number of users were infected with the malware.
The WhatsApp spokesman said the attack had “all the hallmarks of a private company that has been known to work with governments to deliver spyware that has the ability to take over mobile phone operating systems".
NSO’s spyware has repeatedly been used in hacking attacks against journalists, lawyers, human rights advocates and dissidents.
The spyware first made the headlines when it was implicated in the Riyadh regime's gruesome murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October. His body has yet to be found.
PressTV-Experts who linked Israel firm to Khashoggi killing targeted
16 may 2019
This picture taken on April 30, 2019 shows Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivering the opening keynote introducing new Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram privacy features at the Facebook F8 Conference at McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California.
Facebook cracks down on widespread Israel-linked activity, which it found to be in breach of other subscribers’ privacy and in the service of promoting hate speech.
On Thursday, the company said it had blocked 265 accounts, pages, groups, and events linked to Israel on the social networking giant and its sister website Instagram.
It said those behind the activities would engage in "inauthentic behavior" targeting users in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa. It specified the targeted African countries as Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Angola, Niger, and Tunisia.
"The people behind this network used fake accounts to run pages, disseminate their content, and artificially increase engagement," Nathaniel Gleicher, head of cybersecurity policy at Facebook said in a statement.
He identified Israel's Archimedes Group, a Tel Aviv-based political consulting and lobbying firm, as the source of some of the activity. "This organization and all its subsidiaries are now banned from Facebook, and it has been issued a cease and desist letter," said Gleicher.
Gleicher said Archimedes had 65 Facebook accounts, 161 pages, 12 events and four Instagram accounts. Some 2.8 million accounts followed one or more of these pages.
Political meddling
Those behind the accounts would pretend to be locals or members of the local press, circulating fabricated information about politicians.
"The page administrators and account owners frequently posted about political news, including topics like elections in various countries, candidate views, and criticism of political opponents," Gleicher said.
"We’re taking down these pages and accounts based on their behavior, not the content they posted."
He added that the campaign featured spending around $812,000 for advertisements on Facebook paid for in Brazilian reals, Israeli shekels, and US dollars with the first ad running in 2012 and the most recent last month.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made inroads into Africa a key part of his agenda, becoming the first Israeli leader to visit the continent in 50 years in 2016.
The Thursday report was not the first one in which Israel was linked to using social media platforms to disseminate its desired information.
Last May, a report said the Israeli foreign ministry had launched a Facebook page uniquely dedicated to efforts to sway the public opinion in Iraq in favor of the Tel Aviv regime.
It cited diplomatic sources in the occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds as saying the Arabic-language page would serve as “some sort of digital embassy” to Iraq.
Facebook cracks down on widespread Israel-linked activity, which it found to be in breach of other subscribers’ privacy and in the service of promoting hate speech.
On Thursday, the company said it had blocked 265 accounts, pages, groups, and events linked to Israel on the social networking giant and its sister website Instagram.
It said those behind the activities would engage in "inauthentic behavior" targeting users in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa. It specified the targeted African countries as Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Angola, Niger, and Tunisia.
"The people behind this network used fake accounts to run pages, disseminate their content, and artificially increase engagement," Nathaniel Gleicher, head of cybersecurity policy at Facebook said in a statement.
He identified Israel's Archimedes Group, a Tel Aviv-based political consulting and lobbying firm, as the source of some of the activity. "This organization and all its subsidiaries are now banned from Facebook, and it has been issued a cease and desist letter," said Gleicher.
Gleicher said Archimedes had 65 Facebook accounts, 161 pages, 12 events and four Instagram accounts. Some 2.8 million accounts followed one or more of these pages.
Political meddling
Those behind the accounts would pretend to be locals or members of the local press, circulating fabricated information about politicians.
"The page administrators and account owners frequently posted about political news, including topics like elections in various countries, candidate views, and criticism of political opponents," Gleicher said.
"We’re taking down these pages and accounts based on their behavior, not the content they posted."
He added that the campaign featured spending around $812,000 for advertisements on Facebook paid for in Brazilian reals, Israeli shekels, and US dollars with the first ad running in 2012 and the most recent last month.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made inroads into Africa a key part of his agenda, becoming the first Israeli leader to visit the continent in 50 years in 2016.
The Thursday report was not the first one in which Israel was linked to using social media platforms to disseminate its desired information.
Last May, a report said the Israeli foreign ministry had launched a Facebook page uniquely dedicated to efforts to sway the public opinion in Iraq in favor of the Tel Aviv regime.
It cited diplomatic sources in the occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds as saying the Arabic-language page would serve as “some sort of digital embassy” to Iraq.
14 may 2019
Slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Spokesman for company says spyware penetrated phones via missed calls, attacks discovered in early May, targeted unknown number of users, likely in the dozens
Spyware crafted by a sophisticated group of hackers-for-hire took advantage of a flaw in the popular WhatsApp communications program to remotely hijack dozens of phones, the company said late Monday.
The Financial Times identified the actor as Israel's NSO Group, a high-tech company based in Herzliya whose technology has already been linked to the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.
A WhatsApp spokesman said that the company is "certainly not refuting any of the coverage you've seen."
The malware was able to penetrate phones through missed calls alone via the app's voice calling function, the spokesman for the Facebook subsidiary said late Monday.
An unknown number of people -- an amount in the dozens at least would not be inaccurate -- were infected with the malware, which the company said it discovered in early May, said the spokesman, who was not authorized to be quoted by name.
John Scott-Railton, a researcher with the internet watchdog Citizen Lab, called the hack "a very scary vulnerability." "There's nothing a user could have done here, short of not having the app," he said.
The WhatsApp spokesman said the attack had "all the hallmarks of a private company that has been known to work with governments to deliver spyware that has the ability to take over mobile phone operating systems."
The spokesman said WhatsApp, which has more than 1.5 billion users, immediately contacted Citizen Lab and human rights groups, quickly fixed the issue and pushed out a patch. He said WhatsApp also provided information to U.S. law enforcement officials to assist in their investigation.
He said the flaw was discovered while "our team was putting some additional security enhancements to our voice calls" and that engineers found that people targeted for infection "might get one or two calls from a number that is not familiar to them. In the process of calling, this code gets shipped."
"We are deeply concerned about the abuse of such capabilities," WhatsApp said in a statement.
Spokespeople for NSO Group did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The revelation adds to the questions over the reach of the Israeli company's powerful spyware, which can hijack smartphones, control their cameras and effectively turn them into pocket-sized surveillance devices.
NSO's spyware has repeatedly been found deployed to hack journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders and dissidents.
Most notably, the spyware was implicated in the gruesome killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year and whose body has never been found.
Several alleged targets of the spyware, including a close friend of Khashoggi and several Mexican civil society figures, are currently suing NSO in an Israeli court over the hacking.
Monday, Amnesty International -- which said last year that one its staffers was also targeted with the spyware -- said it would join in a legal bid to force Israel's Ministry of Defence to suspend NSO's export license.
That makes the discovery of the vulnerability particularly disturbing because one of the targets was a U.K.-based human rights lawyer, the attorney told the AP.
The lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for professional reasons, said he received about several suspicious missed calls over the past few months, the most recent one on Sunday, only hours before WhatsApp issued the update to users fixing the flaw.
Spokesman for company says spyware penetrated phones via missed calls, attacks discovered in early May, targeted unknown number of users, likely in the dozens
Spyware crafted by a sophisticated group of hackers-for-hire took advantage of a flaw in the popular WhatsApp communications program to remotely hijack dozens of phones, the company said late Monday.
The Financial Times identified the actor as Israel's NSO Group, a high-tech company based in Herzliya whose technology has already been linked to the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.
A WhatsApp spokesman said that the company is "certainly not refuting any of the coverage you've seen."
The malware was able to penetrate phones through missed calls alone via the app's voice calling function, the spokesman for the Facebook subsidiary said late Monday.
An unknown number of people -- an amount in the dozens at least would not be inaccurate -- were infected with the malware, which the company said it discovered in early May, said the spokesman, who was not authorized to be quoted by name.
John Scott-Railton, a researcher with the internet watchdog Citizen Lab, called the hack "a very scary vulnerability." "There's nothing a user could have done here, short of not having the app," he said.
The WhatsApp spokesman said the attack had "all the hallmarks of a private company that has been known to work with governments to deliver spyware that has the ability to take over mobile phone operating systems."
The spokesman said WhatsApp, which has more than 1.5 billion users, immediately contacted Citizen Lab and human rights groups, quickly fixed the issue and pushed out a patch. He said WhatsApp also provided information to U.S. law enforcement officials to assist in their investigation.
He said the flaw was discovered while "our team was putting some additional security enhancements to our voice calls" and that engineers found that people targeted for infection "might get one or two calls from a number that is not familiar to them. In the process of calling, this code gets shipped."
"We are deeply concerned about the abuse of such capabilities," WhatsApp said in a statement.
Spokespeople for NSO Group did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The revelation adds to the questions over the reach of the Israeli company's powerful spyware, which can hijack smartphones, control their cameras and effectively turn them into pocket-sized surveillance devices.
NSO's spyware has repeatedly been found deployed to hack journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders and dissidents.
Most notably, the spyware was implicated in the gruesome killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year and whose body has never been found.
Several alleged targets of the spyware, including a close friend of Khashoggi and several Mexican civil society figures, are currently suing NSO in an Israeli court over the hacking.
Monday, Amnesty International -- which said last year that one its staffers was also targeted with the spyware -- said it would join in a legal bid to force Israel's Ministry of Defence to suspend NSO's export license.
That makes the discovery of the vulnerability particularly disturbing because one of the targets was a U.K.-based human rights lawyer, the attorney told the AP.
The lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for professional reasons, said he received about several suspicious missed calls over the past few months, the most recent one on Sunday, only hours before WhatsApp issued the update to users fixing the flaw.
13 may 2019
Gilad Erdan: "We exposed the Anti-Semitism and terror ties of the BDS"
Internet users seeking information regarding boycotting the Eurovision in Tel Aviv got a surprise when their search took them to a website about how Beautiful, Diverse and Sensational Israel is
As the Eurovision song contest begins and BDS activists calling for a boycott of the event being held in Israel, the ministry of strategic affairs has launched a campaign against supporters of the boycott. Web users searching for information regarding BDS came upon a website seemingly supporting the boycott movement — only to discover that it is actually a cleverly designed Pro-Israeli website.
The website shows all that is beautiful about Israel by using the BDS initials: Beautiful, Diverse, Sensational. More than 30,000 internet users visited the website in less than a week and got the Israeli response to the misinformation and hypocrisy being spread by boycott organizations.
The Ministry for Strategic Affairs, headed by Gilad Erdan, looked for a creative way to contradict the narrative behind the boycott campaign of the BDS movement. In order not expand the BDS brand, the ministry launched a campaign aimed at internet users looking to support the boycott on Google, including banners and adds that "follow" the users to other, unrelated sites.
The website includes photos of Israel's landscape and short publicity film clips about the diversity of Israeli society. "Israel — a country where openness, freedom of expression and the freedom to live and let live have become its main characteristics. A mixture of cultures and traditions that have made Israel an island of tolerance," the website wrote. The website postcards photographed by participants of the Eurovision show the breathtaking landscape and colorful culture.
"After we exposed the anti-Semitism and terror ties of the BDS organizations and discovered dozens of internet bots and fake accounts aimed at pressuring musicians to boycott the contest, we have launched a website aimed at exposing their lies and presenting Israel as a truly: diverse, beautiful and astonishing country," said Minister Erdan.
Internet users seeking information regarding boycotting the Eurovision in Tel Aviv got a surprise when their search took them to a website about how Beautiful, Diverse and Sensational Israel is
As the Eurovision song contest begins and BDS activists calling for a boycott of the event being held in Israel, the ministry of strategic affairs has launched a campaign against supporters of the boycott. Web users searching for information regarding BDS came upon a website seemingly supporting the boycott movement — only to discover that it is actually a cleverly designed Pro-Israeli website.
The website shows all that is beautiful about Israel by using the BDS initials: Beautiful, Diverse, Sensational. More than 30,000 internet users visited the website in less than a week and got the Israeli response to the misinformation and hypocrisy being spread by boycott organizations.
The Ministry for Strategic Affairs, headed by Gilad Erdan, looked for a creative way to contradict the narrative behind the boycott campaign of the BDS movement. In order not expand the BDS brand, the ministry launched a campaign aimed at internet users looking to support the boycott on Google, including banners and adds that "follow" the users to other, unrelated sites.
The website includes photos of Israel's landscape and short publicity film clips about the diversity of Israeli society. "Israel — a country where openness, freedom of expression and the freedom to live and let live have become its main characteristics. A mixture of cultures and traditions that have made Israel an island of tolerance," the website wrote. The website postcards photographed by participants of the Eurovision show the breathtaking landscape and colorful culture.
"After we exposed the anti-Semitism and terror ties of the BDS organizations and discovered dozens of internet bots and fake accounts aimed at pressuring musicians to boycott the contest, we have launched a website aimed at exposing their lies and presenting Israel as a truly: diverse, beautiful and astonishing country," said Minister Erdan.
An American author and Fox News contributor called for Palestine to be “flattened” on Twitter after Israeli warplanes carried out over 300 airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, claiming the lives of 27 Palestinians, including an infant and a toddler.
Last week, Janie Johnson, posted a tweet on her personal Twitter account, in which she advocated for the complete destruction of Palestine and genocide of its people, suggesting no one “would miss it.”
Johnson’s tweet that has since been deleted, read, “Can we flatten Palestine already? Who would miss it?”
Johnson was responding to a tweet by an Israeli journalist, who was describing how fearful the situation was during the escalation between Israel and the Palestinian factions in Gaza.
Although Johnson removed the tweet, social media users condemned her genocidal rhetoric, with many mentioning they reported it on Twitter.
One social media user posted, “What type of person do you have to be to straight up advocate for genocide?,” while another wrote, “Fox News contributor deleted this tweet calling for literal genocide.”
Another user responded, “Ms. Johnson, with her 208K followers, calls for genocide against the defenseless Palestinians. It is deeply disappointing how well hate and racism sells in America.”
Fox News has not yet commented on the matter.
Johnson’s tweet came after Israeli warplanes carried out 340 airstrikes across the besieged Gaza Strip, killing a total of 27 Palestinians, including a four-month-old infant, 14-month-old toddler, and two pregnant mothers, and at least 154 others were injured, while the Hamas movement launched over 600 rockets into southern Israel.
Last week, Janie Johnson, posted a tweet on her personal Twitter account, in which she advocated for the complete destruction of Palestine and genocide of its people, suggesting no one “would miss it.”
Johnson’s tweet that has since been deleted, read, “Can we flatten Palestine already? Who would miss it?”
Johnson was responding to a tweet by an Israeli journalist, who was describing how fearful the situation was during the escalation between Israel and the Palestinian factions in Gaza.
Although Johnson removed the tweet, social media users condemned her genocidal rhetoric, with many mentioning they reported it on Twitter.
One social media user posted, “What type of person do you have to be to straight up advocate for genocide?,” while another wrote, “Fox News contributor deleted this tweet calling for literal genocide.”
Another user responded, “Ms. Johnson, with her 208K followers, calls for genocide against the defenseless Palestinians. It is deeply disappointing how well hate and racism sells in America.”
Fox News has not yet commented on the matter.
Johnson’s tweet came after Israeli warplanes carried out 340 airstrikes across the besieged Gaza Strip, killing a total of 27 Palestinians, including a four-month-old infant, 14-month-old toddler, and two pregnant mothers, and at least 154 others were injured, while the Hamas movement launched over 600 rockets into southern Israel.