Report: Likud’s Gideon Sa’ar Latest Israeli Politician to Have Phone Hacked

TEL AVIV – Senior Likud official Gideon Sa’ar is the latest Israeli political figure to have his phone hacked, according to a report by the Kan public broadcaster on Sunday.

The report did not specify who was responsible for the breach, saying only that Sa’ar discovered it shortly before the Likud primaries in February.

Sa’ar, a former rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has since reconciled with the premier, declined to issue a comment on the report.

Last month, reports emerged that Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz’s phone was hacked by Iran. Gantz’s party accused the Likud Party of leaking news of the hack to the press, a claim that Likud flatly denied.

Former prime minister Ehud Barak also reportedly had his phone breached and the contents sold to Iran.

Last month, an Iranian ayatollah who is a close ally of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei claimed that the Islamic Republic hacked the cellphones of Netanyahu’s “family,” according to a report by Radio Farda.

Ahmad Alamolhoda, custodian of the holy shrine in the Iranian city of Mashhad, may have been referring to unsubstantiated Saudi reports claiming Tehran successfully hacked phones belonging to Netanyahu’s family members. Israel’s Shin Bet national security agency denied the Saudi report.