Netanyahu Advisor's WhatsApp Chats Leaked Online Ahead of Elections

WhatsApp correspondence attributed to Yonatan Uriah, an advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a figure in the "Casegate" affair, has been leaked to social media. The source of the leak, which emerged on Sunday, October 11, claims to have selected conversations with seven contacts from a larger list and indicated that more chats will be published soon. The identity of the leaker remains unknown.

Uriah has not commented on the alleged leak. Previously, on September 27, the "Calcalist" newspaper reported that Uriah had connected his personal WhatsApp account to a service from a company based in the United Arab Emirates. This service reportedly gained access to all messages and media files in his account in unencrypted form. "Calcalist" suggested that UAE authorities might have accessed the correspondence, in accordance with local laws.

The connection became known after Uriah published the code for a media monitoring tool he created on the developer platform GitHub. This tool tracked mentions of Netanyahu and his wife in real-time, sending notifications to specific WhatsApp groups. Uriah developed the code with the help of an AI agent from Anthropic. He then posted the project files on GitHub, a platform where developers store and collaborate on code. The repository was open, allowing anyone to view, copy, and download its contents. The code revealed confidential information, technical data, and unique identifiers and access tokens for WhatsApp groups, potentially exposing group members' identities, phone numbers, and allowing unauthorized access to messages.

"Haaretz" first reported the code's publication. After "Haaretz" contacted Uriah, access to his GitHub page was restricted. However, users who found the code before the article's publication had already copied and distributed it. An examination of the code indicated that Uriah's actions created significant security and privacy risks. "Calcalist" noted that Uriah's contacts might have included Prime Minister's Office staff and other government officials, and their messages could contain sensitive or secret information.

Further concerns were raised about the terms of service for ultramsg, which stores data on Amazon servers for 120 days, even if automatic message deletion is enabled in WhatsApp. The service operates from the UAE, according to its website and LinkedIn profile, with its founder identified as Ahmed Kumar, who has a minimal online presence and may be a pseudonym. "Calcalist" assessed that UAE laws are less strict than Western privacy laws, potentially obligating private companies to share data with authorities without user consent or a court order. This poses a significant risk, as the service reportedly had full, unencrypted access to Uriah's account, stores messages for 120 days, and is subject to laws allowing unrestricted government access.