A senior Iranian official has claimed that Tehran hacked the phones of the Israeli PM’s family members – contradicting denials by Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused a political rival of spreading rumors because he was hacked himself.

Iranian intelligence services have managed to hack and access “all the information” on the mobile phones of the Netanyahu family, including wife Sara and son Yair, according to prominent cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda, who confirmed Saudi media reports. The breach allegedly happened several months ago and it’s not known what data was taken. The PM himself does not carry a cell phone, so it is believed his family members were targeted in an effort to eavesdrop on his conversations.

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Both Netanyahu and the Israeli Security Service have denied the reports that Iran hacked the Netanyahu family’s mobile devices, instead accusing political rival Benny Gantz of spreading the rumors in an effort to distract the media from an alleged hack attack on his own phone several years ago. It has only recently come to public attention, thanks to the Netanyahu campaign, which blamed the hack on Iran and suggested it made Gantz a security risk.

“If Benny Gantz can’t protect his phone, how will he protect our country?” Netanyahu said.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry, however, denied reports that Iran was behind the Gantz hack. The former IDF commander also does not blame Iran for the hack and says his phone did not contain any sensitive information that would make him vulnerable to blackmail. Gantz accused Netanyahu of mentioning Iran in order to gin up political support for his re-election.

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