The Jerusalem Post was apparently hacked on the anniversary of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani’s assassination by the US this week, with the newspaper framing the incident as a “direct threat to Israel.”
The newspaper’s website fell to an alleged hacking attack in the early hours of Monday morning, with its homepage replaced with an image showing a missile shooting out of a ring similar to the one worn by the late Iranian general. The image was accompanied by the caption, “We are close to you where you do not think about it.”
The Jerusalem Post, one of the most influential English-language newspapers in Israel, denounced the apparent hack, deeming it a threat to the whole Jewish state.
“We are aware of the apparent hacking of our website, alongside a direct threat of Israel,” tweeted the Jerusalem Post, adding that staff were “working to resolve the issue.” Shortly thereafter, the website went back online.
The incident took place exactly two years after Soleimani was assassinated in Iraq by an American drone strike on the orders of then-US President Donald Trump.
Major General Tamir Hayman, Israel’s former chief of military intelligence, confirmed last month that Israel played a role in the assassination, boasting, “Soleimani’s assassination is an achievement, since our main enemy, in my eyes, are the Iranians.”
On Saturday, Iran called on the United Nations to take legal action against the US over the assassination and to “take measures to prevent such crimes in the future.”
Iran warned that international peace would be threatened if the “perpetrators of the terrorist attack are free to walk with impunity.”