Iranians leak personal photos of former prime minister Ehud Barak

Images said to date from tenure as defense minister show him posing with a glass of wine in a bathroom; photo of Gantz in swimsuit also distributed online

Iranian online accounts have leaked personal photos and documents of former prime minister Ehud Barak, Friday reports said.

The photos show Barak posing in a bathroom with a glass of red wine and visiting tourist attractions at an unspecified location.

The leaks, which were posted on social media by Iranian users in recent days, also included an image of Barak’s passport and identity card.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the leak or where the photos were obtained.

The leaks appeared to date from Barak’s tenure as defense minister from 2007 to 2013.

One of the photos included a timestamp from July 2011, and other photos were marked from July 2009, while Barak was on vacation in Europe with his family.

https://twitter.com/Ayhammarjeh/status/1710339712353735028

At that time, a political crisis broke out between Barak’s Labor party and then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, which were both part of the ruling coalition.

Barak managed the political dispute while abroad with phone calls to Netanyahu and requested to postpone a vote that sparked the crisis, which centered on a land privatization deal, Hebrew media reports said.

Barak’s office said in a Friday statement, “At least some of the photos appear to be fake. We recommend questions be directed to the source that apparently collected these photos.”

Another leaked photo showed opposition party leader Benny Gantz, also a former defense minister, reclining on a chair in a bathing suit.

Israel and Iran have for years been involved in a largely quiet cyberwar, which occasionally bubbles to the surface.

Iranian hackers have repeatedly targeted Israel in the past, including operations aimed at top officials, Israel’s water system, LGBTQ individuals, government websites and travel booking websites.

Last year, a former cleaner at Gantz’s private residence was found guilty of working for Iranian hackers.

Omri Goren contacted hackers from the Iranian-affiliated group Black Shadow on Telegram and offered to provide them with information about Gantz in exchange for money.

Goren took photographs of Gantz’s desk, computer, phone and tablet, a closed safe and a shredder, pictures of Gantz and his family, and a copy of the minister’s local property tax payments.

Also last year, hackers from a group suspected of being Iranian leaked documents, personal photos and other material from Mossad chief David Barnea, reportedly after breaching an old phone belonging to Barnea’s wife.