A major technical failure at Partner Communications caused widespread service disruptions across Israel on Tuesday, leaving hundreds of thousands of customers without internet, mobile service or access to the company’s television platform.
The disruptions began in the early afternoon, with customers reporting they were unable to make phone calls, use mobile data or send and receive WhatsApp messages. Partner’s home internet and television services also went offline. Many users also reported being unable to reach the company’s customer service, as support representatives are themselves connected to the company’s disabled network.
About an hour after the disruptions began, Partner announced, “Services have returned to full functionality. We apologize for the temporary inconvenience.” However, some users reported continued issues, and officials noted that in such cases, service restoration typically occurs gradually.
Partner posted a separate message on social media: “Dear customers, intermittent disruptions are affecting mobile, internet and TV services for some users. We are working to restore full functionality as quickly as possible.”
The outage also affected customers of HOT Mobile, which shares network infrastructure with Partner, and may have impacted Microsoft’s Azure cloud service, according to the monitoring site Downdetector.
The Communications Ministry confirmed the outage and said the cause had not yet been identified. “In recent hours, there has been a failure affecting the mobile networks of Partner and HOT Mobile across the country,” the ministry said.
“Once we became aware of the issue, we launched an inquiry with the relevant parties to ensure it is resolved as quickly as possible. The ministry will continue monitoring the situation to ensure full service restoration.”
HOT Mobile stated that the source of the disruption lies solely with Partner. “Since HOT Mobile’s cellular infrastructure (operated by PHI Networks) is shared with Partner, some HOT Mobile customers are affected,” the company said.