The International hacker group Anonymous threatened to launch a crusade against Israel's government on Thursday.

The group released a video on YouTube overnight accusing Israel of "crimes against humanity", amid an escalating Internet war between Israeli and Arab hackers.

In the video, which some have called pretentious and melodramatic, Anonymous accuses Israel of bettering "the lives of a select few, while carelessly trampling the liberties of the masses."

The video contained hackneyed anti-religious, anti-Semitic, and anti-Israeli propaganda including insinuations that the Jewish state controls the world, having a "grip on humanity."

"Your Zionist bigotry has displaced and killed a great many. As the world weeps you laugh while planning your next attack," the video states.

"You label all who refuse to comply with your superstitious demands as anti-Semitic and have taken steps to ensure a nuclear holocaust...your are [sic] unworthy to exist in your current form and will therefore face the wrath of Anonymous...."

Anonymous also makes it clear it is bent on defending Iran saying, "...we will not allow you to attack a sovereign country based upon a campaign of lies."

The group then vowed to stop Israel's "reign of terror" through a staged cyber-insurgency.

"Step one will be initiated after the release of this video and will be comprised of systematically removing you from the internet," the group claimed.

"Step two will be later disclosed and is already in initiation; and, as for step three, well, think of this one as a present from Anonymous to you - we will not stop until the police state becomes a free state. We are Anonymous, we are legion, we do not forgive, we do not forget. Israeli government expect us," it warned.

Anonymous, a loosely organized international group of hackers who "seek anarchy through disrupting government and law enforcement networks,” has largely followed populist trends rather than coherent principles.

The group previously threatened to shut down the Knesset website in last June, but failed.

Israel is widely considered one of the world's leading cyber-powers and has established a cyber-defense command.