The Academy of the Hebrew Language's website was breached by Iran-linked hackers on Wednesday, with users encountering a threatening message in English when they entered the site.
Iranian hackers wrote that users would have no reason to keep learning Hebrew, as it would no longer be needed.
“There is no need to learn Hebrew anymore. You won’t need it for much longer,” the message said, alongside the logo of the Iran-linked hacker group "Handala", which claimed responsibility for the breach.
Screenshots circulating online showed the Academy's homepage following the Iranian cyberattack.
Iranian cyberattack waves hit Israel
The incident follows a recent, unusually large cyberattack that has attempted to disrupt the operations of websites and financial services across Israel as part of the digital campaign accompanying the regional fighting.
According to a data report published by the cybersecurity company Imperva, owned by Thales, the attack peaked at about 1.2 million requests per second directed at Israeli websites, an apparent attempt to overwhelm servers and prevent them from serving users.
The main target of the wave of attacks was the financial services sector, particularly websites and online systems belonging to banks and financial institutions.
A propaganda video released by Handala has also circulated online, featuring a deepfake of former prime minister Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to reports on Arab social media networks.
As previously reported, following the breach of the phones of Naftali Bennett and PMO chief Tzachi Braverman, the Iranian hacker group continued targeting public figures in Israel.
About two months ago, Handala published on its X/Twitter account, claiming it had hacked the phone of former justice minister Ayelet Shaked and attaching what it said were personal photos and videos from the former minister’s compromised device.