Israel defence minister's hacked Twitter account shares support for Palestine, Turkey
Israel's far-right Defence Minister Naftali Bennett is not usually known for pro-Palestinian sentiments.
2 min read
Bennett supports the annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank [Twitter]
The Twitter account of Israel's far-right defence minister was briefly hacked on Saturday, making for a bizarre distraction from the country's political limbo.
Naftali Bennett's Twitter account appears to have been hacked in the early hours of Saturday morning, when it shared images of the Palestinian and Turkish flags, as well as words supporting both nations.
"Freedom for Palestine," Bennett's account said in a post accompanied by the Palestinian flag.
The Turkish flag post was joined by lyrics taken from the Turkish national anthem.
Although Turkey and Israel share important trade ties, public relations between the two nations declined after the killing of nine Turkish citizens during the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid. That event led to the slashing of defence ties.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu frequently enagage in wars of words.
Bennett serves as a member of the Knesset for the New Right and is known for his right-wing stances. He opposes the creation of a Palestinian state and supports annexation of parts or all of the West Bank.
He has previously used his Twitter account to condemn Turkey, rather than praise its "crimson flag that... shall never fade".
"At this time we, Israelis, pray for the Kurd People who are under a brutal Turkish attack," he wrote in October last year, when Ankara launched a military operation against Kurdish-led forces in northeastern Syria.
The pro-Palestine and pro-Turkey tweets were quickly deleted.
"The hack lasted a number of minutes. The content was immediately erased and the account password was replaced," Bennett's office said in a statement according to Israeli media.
"The matter was brought to the authorised cyber elements in the security forces to be dealt with."
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Naftali Bennett's Twitter account appears to have been hacked in the early hours of Saturday morning, when it shared images of the Palestinian and Turkish flags, as well as words supporting both nations.
"Freedom for Palestine," Bennett's account said in a post accompanied by the Palestinian flag.
The Turkish flag post was joined by lyrics taken from the Turkish national anthem.
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| [Twitter] |
Although Turkey and Israel share important trade ties, public relations between the two nations declined after the killing of nine Turkish citizens during the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid. That event led to the slashing of defence ties.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu frequently enagage in wars of words.
Bennett serves as a member of the Knesset for the New Right and is known for his right-wing stances. He opposes the creation of a Palestinian state and supports annexation of parts or all of the West Bank.
He has previously used his Twitter account to condemn Turkey, rather than praise its "crimson flag that... shall never fade".
"At this time we, Israelis, pray for the Kurd People who are under a brutal Turkish attack," he wrote in October last year, when Ankara launched a military operation against Kurdish-led forces in northeastern Syria.
The pro-Palestine and pro-Turkey tweets were quickly deleted.
"The hack lasted a number of minutes. The content was immediately erased and the account password was replaced," Bennett's office said in a statement according to Israeli media.
"The matter was brought to the authorised cyber elements in the security forces to be dealt with."
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