Bennett to Iran: ‘If You Mess with Israel, You’ll Pay a Price’

June 29, 2022

by: Ilse Strauss

Wednesday, 29 June 2022 | Outgoing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had one final warning for Iran before he steps down as the Israeli premier: those who attempt a cyberattack against the Jewish state, he told the mullahs in Tehran, are bound to suffer the consequences.

Addressing the audience at the start of the annual Cyber Week conference in Tel Aviv yesterday, Bennett said: “Just like there is nuclear deterrence, there is going to be cyber deterrence. My attitude in general when it comes to our enemies—especially Iran—is that we do not work to create destruction and terror. This has never been our policy. Our policy is, if you mess with Israel, you’ll pay a price. You will not be able to harm Israel through proxies —Hezbollah or Hamas— thinking you can get away with it.”

Bennett continued to highlight the advantages of employing cyber warfare as opposed to traditional military tactics. Striking at the enemy, he said, no longer entails sending “100 or 50 commandoes behind enemy lines. Today it is possible to do things—harm the enemy—through cyber warfare. Now, all you need is a few people and a keyboard. In the end, cyber will become the most prominent area of combat in the future.”

The prime minister’s statement is particularly telling as it comes a day after a cyberattack halted operations at Iran’s three largest steel companies. Hours later, an anonymous hacking group owned up to the attack on social media, saying they targeted Tehran because of the “aggression of the Islamic Republic.”

However, the Times of Israel reported that Israeli military correspondents, who regularly receive off-the-record briefings from senior Israeli officials, alluded to the fact that Israel was behind the attack, striking back at Iran over a suspected cyberattack last week that caused air raid sirens to wail in Jerusalem and Eilat.

And so the clandestine conflict between Jerusalem and Tehran continues, with covert battles fought away from the traditional battlefield and unconventional weapons wielded behind the scenes, only to be hinted at but rarely confirmed.

Posted on June 29, 2022

Source: (Bridges for Peace, June 29, 2022)

Photo Credit: StockSnap/pixabay.com