Less than a week after Channel 12 News reported that Blue and White leader Benny Gantz had his phone hacked by Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday this was proof his chief rival was unqualified to lead Israel.
"If Gantz can't secure his own personal device, how would he keep our country secure?" Netanyahu asked at a campaign event on Monday.
"When I was orchestrating the raid on Iran's nuclear archive, Iran was busy hacking Gantz's phone; this is somewhat ironic, considering that Gantz headed a cyber startup that went bust. He should have secured his phone and this was his personal mishap," Netanyahu said.
He also categorically denied that his office had anything to do with the report on the hack.
Gantz, who served as Israel Defense Forces chief of general staff between 2011 and 2015 has become the chief challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after creating a center-left bloc with national security heavyweights.
According to the Channel 12 News report from Thursday, Gantz was informed by the Shin Bet security agency several weeks ago about the hack to his phone, but the Shin Bet has refused to confirm this.
Gantz reacted to the explosive revelation by saying there was no classified data on the phone, but the Right shot back and said Iran might have nevertheless accessed embarrassing personal information that could be used to extort him.
Blue and White has insinuated that the information was leaked to the press because polls were showing Blue and White was outperforming Likud and could get the first shot at forming a government after the April 9 election.
