Knesset website broken into
Photo: Zoom 77
MKs fall victim to 'cyber-vandalism'
Members of Knesset, government ministers find embarrassing items posted on Knesset webpages; 'almost in jail' typed in bold red on Hirchson's page
Click on the personal webpages of certain Knesset members this evening (Saturday) and you may be surprised to find that some embarrassing items have been added to these politicians' resumes. It seems the Knesset website was hacked into and embarrassing tidbits of biographical information were posted on select politicians' pages for all to see.
A quick run-through of the list of MKs shows that the hackers did not spare many Knesset members' personal pages. The page of MK Abraham Hirchson (Kadima), whose charge sheet was published this week, had the phrase "almost in jail" typed in bold red on his page.
Hirchson's doctored Knesset webpage reads 'almost in jail'
Even the prime minister was a victim of the prank. Olmert, who is being investigated for fraud in connection with the Bank Leumi affair, had his webpage hacked into and the phrase "under investigation" was added to his profile. On Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon's page, the phrase "investigated for sexual harassment" was written.
On MK Esterina Tartman's (Yisrael Beiteinu) webpage, the hackers typed: "Where is the diploma? Are you sure you have one?" Tartman's academic background was called into question at the beginning of the year when it surfaced that she did not in fact have a Master's degree despite having claimed that she did.
Tartman's vandalized bio asks if she possesses a diploma
Immigration Absorption Minister Jacob Edery's (Kadima) page was completely vandalized with question marks inscribed where his name, educational and military background information were located.
The words "under investigation" or "investigated" adorned the Knesset webpages of MKs Yisrael Katz (Likud), Tzachi Hanegbi (Kadima), Shlomo Benizri (Shas), Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) and Ministers Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beitenu) and Ruhama Avraham (Kadima).
Senior Knesset sources said that these acts appeared to be criminal in nature and that they intended to find the perpetrators using all means necessary.
