Mossad head’s personal files, photos leaked by Iran-linked Telegram group

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Photos and personal documents disclosing information on Mossad director David Barnea and his family were leaked in a Telegram channel called “Open Hands” on Tuesday, Walla reported.

Created hours before the leak was published to some 30 followers, the channel is reportedly linked to Iranian groups.

A video released in the leak claims the documents and photos shown are a product of an extensive surveillance campaign targeting Barnea. According to the leakers, this campaign has been ongoing since 2014, when Barnea was head of the Mossad’s Tzomet department responsible for the activation of the Mossad’s international agent network.

Multiple versions of the video were published in English, Arabic and Hebrew.

The surveillance campaign does not only target Barnea but several other senior Israeli officials in the defense establishment, Iranian Nour News reported. According to the report, Barnea was targeted along with other Mossad officials as a possible future head of the establishment.

Some of the files shown in the leak include personal photos of Barnea with his family, plane tickets purchased by Barnea, tax documents, and a satellite image of what is claimed to be his house, located in a city in central Israel.

One document shows a notice sent to the Mossad director’s wife to pay a five-figure sum in tax debt. It said further information gathered on Barnea will be released soon.

The photos and documents shown in the Telegram group could not be authenticated, and it is unknown if they were obtained through a hack of Barnea’s personal phone or computer.

Iranian reports on the leak claim that all the documents were “analyzed by “several security experts affiliated with the group.”

In a statement on behalf of the Mossad, the Prime Minister’s Office responded to Walla’s request for a reaction, stating that the “material shown is old and did not originate from the Mossad director’s personal phone.”

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-701503