Former Israeli prime minister says he smuggled Starlink receptors into Iran

Former Israeli prime minister says he smuggled Starlink receptors into Iran Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said he had helped to smuggle tens of thousands of Starlink receptors into Iran. Speaking at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Bennett said the plan had been to aid anti-government protesters during times when the Islamic Republic cut off internet access, as it often does during demonstrations. "What happens every time there's a protest? They turn off the internet, and then there's no communications," he said. "So what I had started was a process of acquiring and smuggling into Iran tens of thousands of Starlink receptors that would allow continuity of the internet and social networks when they turn it off, and would allow the protests to coordinate and ultimately topple." However, he said that current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "incompetent" government stopped the programme. "And when the protest happened, that infrastructure was not there," he said, referring to the protests in Iran that began in late December. The anti-government protests that escalated in January saw thousands killed. Read more: Former Israeli prime minister says he smuggled Starlink receptors into Iran Naftali Bennett speaks in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on 12 May (Jack Guez/AFP)