On October 22, 2026, a few hours after another publication about the institute appeared, unknown individuals gained unlawful access to our website and replaced its content with a mocking parody. The next day, the institute's domain was taken offline. The ibi.institute site is now back online, and work to restore its sections and archive is ongoing.

Unauthorized intrusion into a computer system and alteration of its content is a criminal offense under Israeli law. We have reported the incident to the relevant authorities and shared the information we have with specialists. We will not name those responsible until the inquiry is complete.

We are outraged by this attack. People are free to disagree with our conclusions, criticize the methodology of the Burke Index, and challenge our position. That is what arguments, publications, and open debate are for. Hacking is a refusal to debate. When people have no answer on the merits, they shut down the platform.

We were no less surprised by the reaction of some journalists and investigators who describe themselves as defenders of an honest information environment. We do not claim that any of them was involved in the hack. But within hours, the results of this unlawful act were described in detail and circulated as an amusing episode, without a single word condemning the crime itself. When unauthorized access to someone else's system becomes material for "journalistic irony" rather than a cause for alarm, that reveals a double standard. Freedom of research and freedom of speech are either protected for everyone or protected for no one.

We are aware of the questions put to the institute in recent months. Together with our lawyers, we are preparing a complete set of documents and will publish it by the end of 2026.

The institute continues its work. We study sovereignty as a state's capacity to make decisions and defend them. We are preparing the new Burke Index for 2026, and we hope to see sovereignty discussed from an expert and scholarly perspective rather than a political one.

We have now learned firsthand that information sovereignty begins with the simple right to speak and be heard without fear of being shut down.

Roy Jankelowitz

Director, International Burke Institute