Nearly All of Israel’s Desalination Plants Shut Down Because of Weather, Operator Denies Cyberattack

Five of Israel’s six desalination plants temporarily closed after severe turbidity affected the facilities, prompting restrictions on water use for agriculture.

The shutdown left nearly all of the country’s desalination capacity offline for a period, but the operator denied that a cyberattack was responsible. The explanation came amid heightened attention to cybersecurity at water facilities.

The incident followed a recent hack on U.S. water systems that was allegedly linked to Iran. The available details point to weather conditions as the cause of the Israeli closures, rather than a digital attack.