Waterfall Security Solutions (Waterfall) is a company headquartered in Rosh Ha’ayin, Israel. On October 1, 2024, it entered into a contract with Saint Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS) to provide cybersecurity for the water department’s computer system.

In light of Israel’s apartheid history, and its current genocidal assault on Gaza, we object to the renewal of this contract which is set to expire on October 1, 2025.

Our ask of the Saint Paul Board of Water Commissioners is simple; do nothing and allow the contract to expire.

The non-violent strategy of economic isolation was successful in forcing South Africa to dismantle its system of apartheid. By the end of 1989, 26 states and over 90 cities had taken some form of binding economic action against South Africa. Many cities used selective purchasing policies, whereby preference in bidding on contracts was given to companies that did not reside in, or do business with, South Africa.

The dire situation in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories requires similar action today. Under the Genocide Convention, contracting parties, of which the United States is one, have an affirmative obligation to prevent genocide. It is not an obligation that is specifically assigned to Congress, the State Department, or even the White House. Indeed, by providing weapons to Israel, blocking UN Security Council resolutions intended to restrain Israel, and hosting rather than arresting the criminally indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the federal government has utterly failed in its legal responsibility to prevent genocide, and should properly be considered complicit in genocide.

In the dark shadow of this failure, we assume the moral responsibility to prevent genocide. As part of that responsibility, we call upon the City of Saint Paul to refrain from economic cooperation with any entity complicit in, or profiting from, apartheid or genocide. In particular, we call upon the Saint Paul Board of Water Commissioners to allow its contract with Waterfall to expire.

We also note worrisome statements made by the founder and CEO of Waterfall, Lior Frenkel. In an interview with International Focus Magazine, Mr. Frenkel had this to say about his personal history and his company:

“I started coding when I was 8 and started hacking systems for fun, because, you know, it’s fun. I started getting paid for my hobby when I was a teenager, like 16 or 17. Then I went to the Israeli Air Force and I was there for about 6 years doing technology and the intelligence part of the business. I finished my service, and I founded a company that was doing offensive cybersecurity for the Israeli Government. Really fun stuff. That was a lot of fun.”

Israel is acknowledged to be a leader in the development of spyware and other intrusive surveillance technologies. The most notorious, Pegasus, has been used to surveil, detain, and sometimes kill dissidents, journalists, and human rights activists. Compromised phones have also been used by Israel to geolocate individuals algorithmically targeted for assassination by aerial bombardment, with predictable results for innocents in the vicinity. It is disconcerting that a company with a history of “doing offensive cybersecurity for the Israeli Government” should be allowed entry into SPRWS computer systems that hold sensitive data on water customers in the City of Saint Paul and the thirteen surrounding suburbs that receive SPRWS water and services.

Published July 14, 2025