OpIsrael (#OpIsrael) is an annual coordinated

cyber-attack A cyberattack (or cyber attack) occurs when there is an unauthorized action against computer infrastructure that compromises the CIA triad, confidentiality, integrity, or availability of its content. The rising dependence on increasingly comple ...

where hacktivists attack Israeli government and even private websites with DDoS attacks and more.As cyber-war begins, Israeli hackers hit back
Times of Israel 07-04-2013 The inaugural campaign was launched in 2013 by

Anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anonym ...

hackers on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day. The campaign has since been held annually. The inaugural OpIsrael was reported to have no physical damage and was assessed by the Israeli Government's National Cyber Bureau and by all security experts and journalists to have been a failure.Botched mission? #OpIsrael cyberattack fails to frustrate Israeli govt
Al-Arabiya 07-04-2013

Targeted websites

Larger than Life, an Israeli NGO devoted to "improving the quality of life and welfare of cancer-stricken children and their families regardless of sex, religion and nationality", stated that in the week leading up to #OpIsrael, its website was targeted repeatedly by pro-Palestinian hackers who defaced it with "flags, a skull, symbols, and all sorts of hate-related things". In the leadup to the attack, Israeli organizations made preparations to defend their websites, and cyber-security experts called on home users to increase awareness and take precautions such as changing passwords, not opening strange or suspicious emails, and maintaining especial vigilance when using

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

. The Israel Internet Association (ISOC) operated a

hotline A hotline is a Point-to-point (telecommunications), point-to-point information transfer, communications Data link, link in which a telephone call, call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by t ...

for people to report attacks and published real-time status reports on its website.Israeli cyber activists attack anti-Israel hackers
Jerusalem Post 07-04-2013, Admin Takeover, Database Breaches and Leaks, Admin Panel Takeover, Defacement and other means.

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

, Israel's national

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

museum, came under a "fairly massive attack". Nevertheless, its website was fully operational on the day of the attack, which overlapped with Holocaust Remembrance Day.Israel Says It Repelled Most Attacks on Its Web Sites by Pro-Palestinian Hackers
New York Times 07-04-2013 At midday, #OpIsrael activists announced on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that they had defaced the website of an Israeli hair salon, Peter Hair, in Ramat HaSharon. The salon's home page showed a masked person holding a sign saying "

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n Security Down #OP ISRAHELL" and was signed with the message "We are

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s, Soldier 'sic''of

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

". The owner of the salon, Peter Imseis, said he had not been aware that the site had been hacked and that it had not affected his business. Government websites that experienced problems on 7 April 2013 included those of the Israeli Ministry of Education and Central Bureau of Statistics, but it was unclear whether these problems were caused by #OpIsrael. During the day, attackers posted numerous false and grandiose claims of successes, such as "Anonymous causes Israel to lose $5 billion" in stock market losses and "

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

loses all Internet connection".

Responses

The attack was praised by

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

, the militant Islamist group that controls the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. Hamas spokesman Ihab al-Ghussain wrote: "May God protect the spirit and mission of the soldiers of this electronic war".Cyberwarfare: Hackers launch attacks on Israel
Der Spiegel 07-04-2013 (German)

Counterattack

The attack drew a response by pro-Israel hackers, who quickly took over #OpIsrael's websit
OpIsrael.com
ref name='cyberwarz_art
#opIsrael: Hackers launch opisrael.com website
Cyber War Zone 03-16-2013 and filled it with pro-Israel content.#OpIsrael Backfires
Jerusalem Post (blogs) 07-04-2013 The DNS record of opisrael.com showed a purchase made under the name 'Al Qaeda'. OpIsrael stated that it had never been their official website, which they said wa
OperationIsrael.tk/
OpIsrael
Twitter 9-4-2013

References

{{reflist, 30em Hacking in the 2010s 2013 in Israel Cyberattacks Anti-Israeli sentiment