Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid announced on Sunday that he will cooperate with Albania in the field of cyber when meeting in Jerusalem with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who blames Iran for two cyber attacks against his country this year.
“Iran is a shared threat to Israel and Albania, we have seen this during the recent Iranian cyberattacks against Albania. Israel will collaborate as much as possible in the effort against Iran, we consider it a national interest and a historic obligation,” Lapid said at the start of the meeting, according to a statement from his office.
CYBERSECURITY
Both leaders spoke about cooperation “in the field of cybernetics” and other issues, as well as the strengthening of bilateral ties and overcoming the common challenges they face, “emphasizing the Iranian threat,” the same source added. .
During his three-day visit to Israel, Rama will also meet with President Isac Herzog; the leader of the Knesset (Parliament), Mickey Levy, and the Minister of Finance, Avigdor Liberman, in addition to the head of the National Cybersecurity Directorate of Israel, Gaby Portnoy, according to the local press.
ATTACK
On July 15, the public services portal e-Albania suddenly stopped working, as well as several government pages, including that of Prime Minister Rama, whose data recovery and full operation took almost a month to achieve.
Albania blamed Iran – an enemy of Israel – for “orchestrating and financing” the cyber attack and broke diplomatic relations with the Islamic country in September.
Days later, Albania was the victim of another attack that disabled the border police’s data registration and control system.
The UN, NATO, the United States and the European Union supported attributing the attacks to Iran.
CONDEMN
Israel, on its side, condemned the cyber attacks, assuring that the Islamic Republic represents “a threat” to the world, and offered assistance in cyber defense to Albania.
Iran condemned Albania’s decision to sever diplomatic relations and called the accusations against it “baseless.” He also expressed his willingness to send a team of investigators to Albania to clarify the matter.
About 3,000 dissidents of the Tehran regime live in Albania who are members of the Organization of the People’s Mujahideen of Iran, known as MEK, which has caused tensions between the two countries on several occasions.
These exiled Iranians began arriving in Albania in 2013, when the country took them in for “humanitarian” reasons at the request of the United States.
“The values and principles of the Albanian people led its citizens to risk their lives to save the Jews during the Holocaust. They gave them shelter and found a way to get them away from the Nazis. We will never forget those who were by our side,” Lapid said on Sunday. EFE
