A major online celebration of UJIA’s centenary was disrupted by a cyber-attack on the hosting platform .
The event on Wednesday night was under way when registered guests began to be logged off from the platform. Others who had yet to log in were unable to. Of the 1,000-plus households registered to watch the event, only around 270 were able to properly experience the proceedings.
The cyber-attack is understood to be a DDoS attack, which targeted the login function of the event platform. The charity does not know who was responsible.
In a statement, the Israel charity said it was “incredibly disappointed” by the disruption.
Wednesday’s event had been devised to kick-off UJIA’s 100th year and to raise funds to compensate for lost income caused by the pandemic. The charity has seen a deficit of £1.5 million in funding compared to the previous campaign year and has laid off around a quarter of its staff.
A spokesperson for the charity said that despite the attack, proceeds from the celebration had been in line with expectations.
The event – which featured appearances from Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and singer Idan Raichel – is now available on YouTube.
UJIA chief executive Mandie Winston said she was “truly grateful and deeply moved” by the generosity of donors.
“On behalf of all at UJIA, we will continue to work tirelessly to strengthen the ties between British Jews and Israel, and to support some of Israel’s most vulnerable citizens.”
