Transportation Minister Miri Regev received hundreds of threats and abusive messages from Turkish phone numbers after her mobile number was circulated on X, officials said Saturday.
“I am Turkish, I will send you to hell,” one message read. Others told her, “Hitler was right, he should have killed you all,” and “We will bury you and your country.” Another sender wrote, “Never forget this, your death is near. We are the defenders of Qassam,” referring to the military wing of Hamas. One demanded, “Be brave and be a man. Come and answer me. You dirty cowardly pigs.”
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Hundreds of threats and abusive messages from Turkish phone numbers received by Transportation Minister Miri Regev
Regev’s phone number was one of 11 belonging to Israeli ministers that were posted online. The list also included the numbers of former defense minister Yoav Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though it was noted that Netanyahu’s number might be outdated. Other ministers whose numbers were reportedly exposed include Yariv Levin, Eli Cohen, Dudi Amsalem, Yoav Kisch, Miki Zohar, Avi Dichter and Nir Barkat.
The wave of harassment followed a cyber incident two days earlier when a Turkish hacking group released the personal number of Foreign Minister Israel Katz and managed to connect with him briefly in a video call. Before Katz disconnected, the hacker shouted curses and captured a screenshot. Katz’s phone was also flooded with thousands of threatening and insulting messages.
Security officials say there has been a rise in attempts to compromise the phones of security and government figures since the war against Iran in June, but stressed that no attempts have succeeded and no sensitive information has leaked.
The incidents come amid ongoing tensions between Israel and Turkey, which escalated after Katz posted a sharply worded message in Turkish in August 2023, accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of turning Turkey into a dictatorship and supporting Hamas.