Yoav Limor
Israeli journalist and defence commentator for Israel Hayom and Keshet; named in leaked emails as a central organiser of the 2015–16 "12 Tribes" anti-BDS initiative
| Yoav Limor
| |
|---|---|
| Image |  Limor in a television studio, 2013 (photo: Yoav Limor, CC BY-SA 3.0) |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Occupation | Journalist, defence commentator and broadcaster |
| Known for | Military commentary for Israel Hayom; morning programmes on Keshet |
| Education | Ono Academic College (LLB) |
Yoav Limor is an Israeli journalist and broadcaster who has written military commentary for the newspaper Israel Hayom since 2008.[1] Jack Poulson has called him "the prominent Israeli national security journalist" and reported that leaked emails, "if authentic, document the journalist's central role in the creation of the anti-BDS intelligence operation" that Benny Gantz planned in 2015–16.[2]
The emails were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets after their release by Handala, a hacking group that DDoSecrets says is "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence" and that security researchers link to Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security. Their authenticity has not been independently verified.[3][4]
Career
According to Ono Academic College, Limor began as a reporter for the military weekly Bamahane during his army service. He presented the daily current-affairs programme "The Security Strip" on Israel Army Radio from 1998 to 2005 while working for Maariv, and from 2002 was a military reporter and commentator on Israel's Channel 1 for nine years. In 2008 he began writing military commentary for Israel Hayom, and from January 2012 he presented the "Yom Hadash" morning programme. He co-wrote the 2007 book Prisoners in Lebanon with Ofer Shelach.[1]
The "12 Tribes" initiative
According to the leaked emails published by Distributed Denial of Secrets, Limor worked with Gantz and Melody Sucharewicz from mid-2015 on a "Counter-BDS Initiative" that became the "12 Tribes" project.[3] In an email of 30 July 2015 about a meeting with Nadav Zafrir, a former commander of Unit 8200, Limor wrote that Zafrir had advised recruiting a founding team member with "a specialisation in collection, i.e. something close to the world of 8200" (translated from Hebrew).[5] Check Point, which Zafrir later led, told Poulson that "the only reference you have here is a conversation with yoav Limor the journalist" and that Zafrir "wasn't involved in this project".[2]
Poulson reported that the archive shows Limor leading the project's initial legal consultation, emailing a legal strategy from the law office of Gideon Koren, and travelling with Gantz and United Israel Appeal chief executive Greg Masel on a roughly two-week fundraising trip to Australia from late February 2016. He said meeting notes describe Limor and Masel as having led the fundraising.[2] At a consultation on 20 April 2016, to which Sima Vaknin-Gil of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs was invited, Limor is recorded as saying that "half a million Taglit alumni… these email lists are potential armies waiting for a call, for tools, to be activated" (translated from Hebrew).[6] Taglit is the Birthright programme. Poulson said Limor did not respond to requests for comment.[2]
The initiative fed into the ministry's planned public-benefit company, later Kela Shlomo and Concert. See Benny Gantz and Kela Shlomo.
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ono Academic College, Yoav Limor Our Alumni, accessed 21 October 2026. Ono-side.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 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.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Distributed Denial of Secrets, Benny Gantz emails ddosecrets.org, 27 August 2025, accessed 21 October 2026. DDoSecrets says the emails "were released by Handala, a hacking group that is believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and applies its "Cyberwar" disclaimer.
- ↑ Check Point Research, "Handala Hack" – Unveiling Group's Modus Operandi Check Point Research, 12 March 2026, accessed 21 October 2026. Security research.
- ↑ Benny Gantz emails (released by Handala, published by Distributed Denial of Secrets), email from Yoav Limor on a meeting with Nadav Zafrir, 30 July 2015 (Hebrew), archive path
benny@bgprime.co.il/Inbox!3/1 (235).html, dataset page ddosecrets.org, accessed 21 October 2026. Leaked email; authenticity not independently verified. - ↑ Benny Gantz emails (released by Handala, published by Distributed Denial of Secrets), summary of the "12 Tribes" consultation of 20 April 2016 and invitation list (Hebrew), archive path
beny/Inbox!6/0000003708-12 Tribes Brainstorm Session _ Follow up, dataset page ddosecrets.org, accessed 21 October 2026. Leaked email; authenticity not independently verified.