Israel clashes with Iran over anti-Semitic poster and string of cyber-attacks

Tensions between Iran and Israel have escalated this week over a series of cyber-attacks and a poster promoted by the Supreme Leader which called for a “final solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The poster was reportedly published on the official website of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, and carried the slogan “the final solution: resistance until referendum.”

The same image was promoted by Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, in a message on Twitter where he called for Palestinians to hold a referendum on their preferred system of governance.

In a separate post on Twitter, the Supreme Leader said that Iran would support “any group or any nation anywhere...who opposes the Zionist regime,” referring to Israel.

The phrase “final solution” evokes the Nazis’ attempt to exterminate the Jewish population during the Holocaust.

A spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, responded: He [Khamenei] should know that any regime that threatens to destroy the State of Israel faces a similar danger.”

Iran has ramped up its anti-Israel rhetoric ahead of al-Quds Day, an annual event held by the regime in solidarity with Palestinians.

But the tensions are also being fueled by Israel's proposed annexation of parts of the West Bank later this year, which has drawn criticism from Arab nations, the EU and Britain.

Earlier this week the Palestinian Authority claimed it was scrapping all security agreements with Israel and the US over the annexation plan, which has been given the green light by Washington.

The online row came amid reports that Israel had launched a cyber attack on a key Iranian port earlier this week, wreaking havoc on the shipping industry.

Aviv Kochavi, a Lieutenant-General in the Israel Defence Forces, has implied that the Jewish state was behind the attack.

"We will continue to use diverse military tools and unique methods of warfare to strike at the enemy,” he said in response to reports of the cyber-attack.

The attack was launched on Shahid Rajaee port and is said to have caused hours of disruption by crashing the computer systems that control traffic flows.

It is understood that the Israeli cyber-attack was in retaliation for a failed attempt by Iran to hack into the country’s water supply system.

On Thursday, several hundred Israeli websites were targeted by cyber-attacks, according to Israeli media reports, though in this case experts say it is unlikely Iran was involved.

The affected websites were hacked to display video footage of Israeli cities being bombed.

Israeli officials say they are bracing for more disruption this Friday, when Iran will hold its annual al-Quds Day event.