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Israeli Cyber Expert: Explosives Planted in Hezbollah Pagers in Op Planned Months Before War
An ambulance arrives at a hospital as thousands of people, mainly Hezbollah fighters, were wounded on Sept. 17, 2024 when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
An Israeli cyber and national security expert has claimed that the exploding pagers carried by Hezbollah members in Lebanon, which left thousands wounded and killed at least nine people on Tuesday, were part of a sophisticated attack that was planned at least half a year before the war in Gaza erupted.
Dr. Eyal Pinko, a former navy commander and senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, dismissed theories that the blasts were caused by lithium batteries that were hacked to become overheated, and said that the nature of the wounds seen in footage emerging from Lebanon was consistent with those caused by explosives such as TNT and HTB.
“To get this kind of wound you need to have between one to two grams of type of explosives, which is not a big technological issue — you just need to open the beeper,” Pinko said during a briefing with reporters on Tuesday evening. He added that a stable explosive that wouldn’t detonate accidentally would have been inserted into the device, along with a small control mechanism capable of receiving remote commands via a call or page.
Such an operation would have required significant infiltration of Hezbollah’s communication systems, according to Pinko, and planting explosives in pagers would necessitate a serious breach of the supply chain. “This is an intelligence operation that was very well planned, prepared for more than one and a half years,” Pinko said
Pinko alluded to the possibility of a coordinated effort, suggesting that Israel may not have acted alone if it was behind the attack in Lebanon, where Hezbollah wields significant political and military clout. He noted efforts by Germany, France, the US, and the UK to prevent escalation in the region.
Israel has so far been quiet about the explosions, but senior Lebanese officials have blame the Jewish state. So too has Hezbollah, which said Israel would receive “its fair punishment.”
The operation clearly appeared to serve as a message to Hezbollah, showcasing vulnerabilities in its security apparatus and serving as a form of deterrence, Pinko said. “It’s saying that, ‘you’re already being penetrated. We know where you are and what you do. Now look what we can do: In one single shot, in less than a second, we can eliminate almost 3,000 terror operatives.’”
Meanwhile, Sky News Arabia quoted an Israeli military source as saying that Hezbollah’s supply chain was infiltrated with the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, placing PETN, a highly explosive stable material, on the batteries of the devices.
A source close to Hezbollah, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the pagers were “sabotaged at the source” before being imported by Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terrorist organization based in Lebanon.
Al Jazeera said that the pagers had been in use by Hezbollah operatives for five months.
Brigadier General (res) Amir Avivi, founder of the Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF), told The Algemeiner that the attack “had the Mossad’s fingerprints all over it.”
“Hezbollah certainly got the message,” Avivi said, adding that war between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group was “imminent.”
However, Pinko said that Tuesday’s coordinated attacks were not a prelude to a full ground invasion into Lebanon and that Israel was likely to adopt a “wait and see” approach. “Israel doesn’t want to go towards further escalation; not in the north, and not with the Houthis in Yemen. They just want to finish the business in Gaza.”
The explosions came hours after a revelation by the Israeli Shin Bet security agency that a Hezbollah cell had infiltrated Israel with the intent to assassinate a former senior defense official in Tel Aviv using a mobile phone, camera, and remote detonation.
Hezbollah has fired barrages of rockets, missiles, and drones at northern Israel almost daily following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists on the Jewish state’s southern region. Since then, both sides have been exchanging fire constantly while avoiding a major escalation as war rages in Gaza to the south.
About 80,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate their homes in northern Israel and flee to other parts of the country amid the unrelenting attacks from Hezbollah.
Israeli leaders have said they seek a diplomatic resolution to the conflict with Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon but are prepared to use large-scale military force if needed to ensure all citizens can safely return to their homes.
On Monday night, Israel’s security cabinet expanded its war goals to include returning the displaced Israelis from the north.
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Connecticut State Rep. Who Attacked Primary Opponent for Being Jewish Faces Expulsion From Local Democratic Party
Connecticut state representative Anabel Figueroa. Photo: Screenshot
A state representative in Stamford, Connecticut may soon be ousted from the local Democratic Party for proclaiming that her primary opponent, Jonathan Jacobson, must not win office because he is Jewish, a statement that heightened concerns about the mainstreaming of antisemitic rhetoric.
“The Hispanic vote is going to determine on Aug. 13 who will win to represent or who will continue to represent you,” Figueroa said in a Spanish-language interview filmed on July 28. “We cannot permit a person who is of Jewish origin, of Jewish origin, to represent our community. It’s impossible.”
The comments were met with widespread backlash, and the Stamford Democratic City Committee (DCC) called on Figueroa to resign.
“The use of this blatant antisemitic and anti-democratic language is abhorrent, unacceptable, and contrary to our shared values as Democrats,” it wrote in a statement. “The sentiments expressed by Representative Figueroa in that video contradict the statement she issued yesterday in response to the antisemitic Facebook post shared by a DCC member, who is also one of her supporters.”
One of Figueroa’s supporters, who is also a member of the Stamford DCC, had also reportedly made antisemitic remarks about Jacobson.
Voters in the 148th District ultimately rejected Figueroa, electing Jacobson by a 25-point margin in the Democratic primary last month. However, the consequences of her campaign strategy, which offended many in the community — both Jewish and Latino — have outlasted the campaign season. On Aug. 28, the DCC voted unanimously to subject her to an “expulsion hearing,” a disciplinary process which may result in her banishment from the party. According to The Stamford Advocate, Figueroa will be afforded due process as well as an “advocate” who “will have 30 minutes” to contest the charges of misconduct in a hearing on Sept. 25.
“Anabel Figueroa has nobody to blame but herself for the situation that she created,” DCC chair Robin Druckman told the Advocate on Aug. 29. “Her words are her own and there is no missing context. Anyone can … hear and see for themselves that she not only used this abhorrent language but that she continues to do so.”
Figueroa’s apparent animosity toward Jewish politicians began earlier this year, when her political star fell after the DCC endorsed Jacobson for a state house seat for the 148th District which she had won in a special election in 2023, according to local media outlets. Outraged by being forced into a primary race, Figueroa lashed out at Jacobson and the party. In doing so, she fanned the flames of ethnic division and campaigned in part on the message that a Jewish representative would harm Latino citizens.
Later, a Figueroa surrogate and long time friend, Eva Padilla, launched more attacks in the same vein against Jacobson, casting suspicion on his ties to Israel and suggesting that he aimed to “steal” votes from Latinos.
“Her challenger is Israeli lawyer Jonathan Jacobson, a Stamford lawyer who doesn’t a damn about our wellbeing. This gentleman in my very personal opinion does not deserve to be involved in political positions where decisions are made that will benefit or harm our Latino community,” Padilla said in a message posted on Facebook. “On one occasion, he wanted to pass a law that was totally detrimental to our landscapers, obviously because the vast majority of them are Latinos … he wants our voice to end in this state.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Connecticut State Rep. Who Attacked Primary Opponent for Being Jewish Faces Expulsion From Local Democratic Party first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Film ‘Come Closer,’ Inspired by Death of Director’s Brother, Selected to Represent Israel in Oscars Race
Actress Lia Elalouf as Eden in a scene from Tom Nesher’s feature film “Close Closer.” Photo: Provided.
Tom Nesher’s directorial debut “Come Closer” won best feature film at Israel’s Ophir Awards on Monday night and will go on to be the Jewish state’s official selection for consideration in the 97th Academy Awards in the category of best international feature film.
“Come Closer” won a total of four Ophir awards on Monday, presented by the Israeli Academy for Film and Television, including best leading actress for the film debut of Lia Elalouf, best editing, and best director for Nesher, who is the daughter of acclaimed director Avi Nesher. The film, which Tom also wrote, received a total of 12 nominations.
On Monday night, Nesher went on stage to accept her awards while wearing an ensemble that included a black T-shirt with Hebrew words calling for the release of the remaining 97 hostages held by Hamas since the terrorist organization’s deadly rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7.
“Come Closer” is about a young woman named Eden who struggles to cope with the sudden death of her brother, who was killed in a car accident. When she discovers her brother had a secret girlfriend, Eden finds her and together the two women are bonded in grief but their relationship also becomes obsessive, passionate, and dangerous. The film was inspired by the death of Tom’s own brother, Ari Nesher, who was killed in 2018 in a hit-and-run accident at the age of 17.
“This film was created for my brother,” Nesher told The Algemeiner earlier this year about her debut film. “I wanted to make a film that he would like. So not a family drama [or] sad film, but a coming-of-age, funny, sexy, full of life — just like an exciting film for him to watch also.”
“The process that I was going through [after Aris death] was very similar to the process that the characters were going through,” she added. “This film became kind of like my lifeline. I was coping with the grief I was dealing with through making this film, which is very full of love and passion.”
“Come Closer” made its world premiere in June at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the viewpoint award, and premiered in Israel at the Jerusalem Film Festival in July, where it took home the award for best first feature and an actress prize for Elalouf. It will be released to the general public in Israel this week, according to Deadline.
Also at the Ophir Awards on Monday night, the late filmmaker Yahav Viner, who was killed in his kibbutz of Kfar Aza during the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, was posthumously awarded the Ophir for best short film for his final project, “The Son.” His widow, filmmaker Shaylee Atary, accepted the award on his behalf.
The post Israeli Film ‘Come Closer,’ Inspired by Death of Director’s Brother, Selected to Represent Israel in Oscars Race first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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New California Law Helps Holocaust Survivors, Their Families Reclaim Nazi-Looted Art
A close-up view of the painting “Rue Saint-Honoré in the Afternoon. Effect of Rain” by Camille Pissarro. Photo: public domain
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on Monday legislation that will give Holocaust survivors and their families more opportunities to reclaim art and other personal property looted or stolen by Nazis during the Holocaust.
The signing of Assembly Bill (AB) 2867, introduced by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, took place at the Holocaust Museum LA.
“For survivors of the Holocaust and their families, the fight to take back ownership of art and other personal items stolen by the Nazis continues to traumatize those who have already gone through the unimaginable,” Newsom said in a released statement. “It is both a moral and legal imperative that these valuable and sentimental pieces be returned to their rightful owners, and I am proud to strengthen California’s laws to help secure justice for families.”
Gabriel co-chairs the California Legislative Jewish Caucus. His legislation was inspired by a ruling in January by the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed a Spanish museum to maintain possession of a famous 1897 Camille Pissarro oil painting that Nazis stole from a Jewish woman named Lilly Cassirer Neubauer during the Holocaust.
Her family bought the Pissarro painting in 1900 directly from the artist’s main agent and she inherited it in 1926. In 1939, she was forced to sell the painting for $360, which was below its market value, to a Nazi art dealer in order to obtain visas to escape from Germany with her husband, according to court documents. After the war, she attempted to recover the painting in Germany, but its whereabouts were unknown.
The painting changed ownership many times and was sold to the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid in 1993. The Cassirer family has attempted to regain ownership of the painting — titled “Rue Saint-Honoré in the Afternoon. Effect of Rain” — but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the museum is not obligated to return the artwork to Cassirer’s heirs in California, and applied Spanish law to the case as opposed to California law.
The new AB 2867 mandates that California law must apply in lawsuits involving artwork or other personal property that was stolen or looted during the Holocaust due to political persecution, like in the case involving the Cassirer family. The legislation builds on existing California law that aids the state’s residents in recovering stolen property, including property stolen during the Holocaust.
Gabriel said the signing of AB 2867 “is a victory for morality and justice, and will ensure that California continues to stand on the right side of history.”
“For families in California, AB 2867 will go a long way to eliminate the incentive from governments, museums, and collectors to distort and deny the true horrors of the Holocaust in order to hold onto Nazi loot,” said Sam Dubbin, the attorney for the Cassirer family. “This new law is essential for truth, history, and justice — for the Cassirer family and the future cases as well. This law sends a clear message from the people of California to all museums and governments — including the government of Spain — that museums should have no right to hold stolen art.”
The post New California Law Helps Holocaust Survivors, Their Families Reclaim Nazi-Looted Art first appeared on Algemeiner.com.