Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Israeli Hacking Uncovered Details Of ISIS Laptop Bomb Plot Leaked By Trump

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Israeli cyberintelligence reportedly uncovered detailed Islamic State plans for bomb attacks aboard aircraft that led to the U.S. ban on laptops on flights from eight Muslim-majority nations.

The revelation appeared Monday in a New York Times article about the difficulties facing the United States in using cyber-warfare to contain the influence of the terrorist group, which quickly regroups once Western intelligence agencies are able to disable its networks.

One of the few recent successes, the Times said, was Israel’s cyber-infiltration of a small cell of terrorists in Syria working on disguising explosive devices as batteries for laptops. That was part of the information President Trump leaked last month to top Russian officials, much to Israel’s consternation, the report said.

The Trump administration is considering extending the laptop ban to flights from European airports.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.