"Anyone With A Cell Phone Owns A Piece Of Israel": Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that anyone who is carrying a cell phone owns a ‘piece of Israel’. His statement comes after several European countries have voiced their opposition to stopping arms supply to Israel.
Netanyahu has admitted that Israel is facing a ‘kind of isolation’ that could exist for years and has no choice but to stand on its own. He emphasised to adapt to ‘autoarkic characteristics’ – becoming more self-sufficient and less dependent on external trade.
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On Monday, the Spanish government canceled a contract worth 700 million euros for Israeli-designed rocket launchers. They included approval of imposing a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel due to its military offensive in Gaza, launched after October 7, 2023.
“If you have cell phones, then you are holding a piece of Israel here”, Netanyahu said during a finance ministry conference. “The cell phones, the medicines, the food. You eat cherry tomatoes, you know where that was made? Here,” he said.
On the countries boycotting to supply military equipment and shipments to Israel, Netanyahu said, “They think Israel is isolated. Israel can’t break out of the siege. I said, we will”.
“Some of them stopped weapon component shipments. Can we get out of this? Yes, we will. We are pretty good at producing weapons. Like intelligence. We share both with the United States. A good chunk of your intel. So those in Western Europe, who think they can deny us things, will not succeed. We can break the siege, and we will”, the Israeli PM said.
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In recent years, the Israeli spyware firm Pegasus has faced repeated backlash over accusations of spying on foreign leaders.
Tel Aviv has also conducted a wave of pager-phone attacks in Lebanon, underscoring how Israel is using the communication industry for military purposes.
The use of technology has become a matter of concern for the people as it could have impact on people’s life as hundreds of people lost their lives in Lebanon after Israel conducted pager attacks on Hezbollah fighters. Here is a depiction by the BBC that how pagers were used and how it can be lethal to use technology with a threat of life.
