Ministers Yitzhak Wasserlauf and Amichai Eliyahu
Ministers Yitzhak Wasserlauf and Amichai EliyahuYonatan Sindel/Flash90

Minister of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Yitzhak Wasserlauf and Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu received an invitation on Sunday to participate in a Chabad Hanukkah celebration in Brooklyn, New York.

The invitation was sent on behalf of a member of the Chabad movement and aroused the ministers’ suspicions. Minister Wasserlauf contacted his ministry's security officer to check the message.

Arutz Sheva – Israel National News was informed that the security officer passed on the contents of the message to security officials in Israel, who ascertained that it was sent by Iranian elements.

The message read: "Shalom, I am writing to you on behalf of the Chabad movement. I am honored to invite you to participate in the Hanukkah celebrations that will take place at the end of December in Brooklyn, New York. This holiday coincides with Christian Christmas and the start of the New Year."

The minister was invited to participate in the event: "The event will mark the tradition of Hanukkah, and will be attended by a number of senior members of the American Jewish community, including political and religious figures of distinguished status. I would like to hereby extend our invitation to you, Mr. Yitzhak Wasserlauf, to take part in these festive Hanukkah celebrations."

"If you are interested in participating in this event, I would appreciate it if you would confirm as soon as possible, so that we can issue an official invitation from the Chabad movement. We will take care of your travel and hosting arrangements for the event. Looking forward to your urgent reply," it concluded.

CWA, Chabad security organization, commented: "The appeal is familiar to us and is being handled by official security officials."

The Shin Bet and Mossad did not respond to the Arutz Sheva – Israel National News request for comment.