Tens of thousands of Israeli army reservists received obscure phone calls and messages via an automated emergency call-up system early Thursday morning, in what the Israel Defense Forces called a technical “malfunction” during a planned maintenance.
- “Tonight, a planned maintenance operation was carried out on the IDF dialer system, as part of which a malfunction occurred and as a result an error message was sent in English,” the IDF said in a tweet.
According to Israeli media reports, the robocalls did not actually call up any reservists for duty, but only issued an “Error” message before hanging up.
- The military also reassured the public that there was no emergency, issuing an apology and wishing everyone a happy Hanukkah.
A similar accident happened in 2018, during the country’s independence day celebrations amid heightened tensions following the shooting of Palestinian protesters on the Gaza border.
- Back then thousands of Israelis received more specific messages that read: “You are to report immediately to the meeting place. Reminder, you are to bring your protection kit and your military kit.” Once the error was realized, a message canceling the original order was issued.
Source: RT