Netanyahu: If Gantz can’t protect his phone, how will he protect the country?

The prime minister called the hack “ironic,” pointing out that Gantz was chairman of a cybersecurity company that went bankrupt.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Israel Resilience party leader Benny Gantz (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Israel Resilience party leader Benny Gantz
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
The hacking of Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s is a personal failure on his part, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday night.
During a Likud event in Jerusalem, Netanyahu touted Israel’s advances in cybersecurity, when someone shouted from the crowd: “Ask Benny Gantz!”
“Since you brought it up,” Netanyahu said, “I strongly condemn the wild attacks by [Blue and White co-leaders Yair] Lapid and Gantz against the Mossad, Shin Bet and myself. We are protecting Israel’s security.”
Netanyahu’s comments come following reports that Gantz’s phone had been hacked by Iran. The Shin Bet reportedly informed Gantz of the security breach. Blue and White’s top candidates blamed Netanyahu – some for the hack itself and some for the leak to the media – but the prime minister denied that he knew about it before the media reports.
The prime minister called the hack “ironic,” pointing out that Gantz was chairman of a cybersecurity company that went bankrupt.
“He was supposed to protect his phone. That is his personal failure. If Gantz can’t protect his phone, how will he protect the country?” Netanyahu asked. “Second, Gantz and Lapid supported the dangerous nuclear deal with Iran, the deal that I fought and I am glad that I acted successfully to convince the president of the US to leave and to renew sanctions on Iran.”
Netanyahu was referring to criticism, mainly from Lapid, about his continued efforts to oppose the Iran deal. Before the world powers signed the agreement, Lapid also opposed it.
“I hope that Lapid and Gantz, who don’t understand the environment in which we live and what kind of regime we are dealing with, I hope that they will finally learn their lesson, but I wouldn’t rely on it,” Netanyahu added. “They aren’t ones who can protect Israel from the threats from Iran, and every day proves it again.”