Israel Cyber Shield
Israeli intelligence firm that gathered information on BDS activists
| Israel Cyber Shield
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Private intelligence firm |
| Founded | 11 January 2018 |
| Headquarters | Israel |
| Key people | Eran Vasker |
| Remarks | Founding date as reported by Jack Poulson from a Concert annual report |
Israel Cyber Shield (ICS) is an Israeli firm, run by Eran Vasker, that gathered intelligence on activists in the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.[1] In 2016 Sagi Balasha described it to an Israeli American Council audience as "a civil intelligence unit that collects, analyzes and acts upon the activists in the BDS movement, of its people, organizations, or events".[2]
Origins
Jack Poulson reported that ICS began as Benny Gantz's "Counter-BDS Initiative", also called "12 Tribes". He wrote that it was temporarily merged into Kela Shlomo (later Concert - Together for Israel) and then split off as a separate legal entity formed on 11 January 2018, citing a Concert annual report.[3] Poulson's account draws on Gantz's emails, released by the hacking group Handala, which is believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence, and published by Distributed Denial of Secrets.[4] Those emails have not been independently verified. Poulson also reports that the entity appears under the names "Keshet David" and "Innovative Collaboration Strategies", and that Vasker also led Argyle Consulting Group. He describes CyberWell as an offshoot.[3] He quotes former Ministry of Strategic Affairs director-general Sima Vaknin-Gil describing the effort as "Aman for the poor".[3]
Linda Sarsour dossier (2018)
In May 2018 Haaretz reported, as summarised by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, that ICS had compiled a dossier on the Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour for Act.IL, a project of the Israeli American Council.[1]
People
| Name | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Eran Vasker | Head | reported 2018 |
Source: [1]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Israeli intelligence firm reportedly collected info on Linda Sarsour JTA, 24 May 2018, summarising Haaretz, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ James Bamford, The Israel-Affiliated Organization Leading the Backlash Against Student Protests The Nation, 16 May 2024 (critical), accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Jack Poulson, Leak indicates billionaire funders of Israeli cyber campaign targeting anti-apartheid activists All-Source Intelligence (Substack), 17 September 2025, updated 27 September 2025 (critical), accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Benny Gantz emails DDoSecrets, 27 August 2025, accessed 22 October 2026.