JERUSALEM: A former Israeli prime minister acknowledged on Tuesday that Israel had smuggled Starlink internet receivers into Iran to help anti-government protesters, though he said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government failed to follow through on the plans.

Naftali Bennett, who served as prime minister in 2021 and 2022, told an audience at a conference in Jerusalem that he had initiated a “process of acquiring and smuggling into Iran tens of thousands of Starlink receptors that would allow continuity of the internet and social networks”.

Starlink, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, provides satellite internet connections. Iran has previously accused Israel and the United States of smuggling in the devices to undermine its security.

Bennett said the devices were intended to enable protesters to coordinate and ultimately topple the Iranian government.

“Unfortunately, the current incompetent Israeli government stopped doing that,” he said. “And when the protest happened, that infrastructure was not there.” Bennett further said that if he returned to office he would work to undermine Iran’s government with the aim of toppling it. “That could include measures short of direct military attacks such as economic and industrial sabotage.”

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2026