Tuesday afternoon, the St. Paul Board of Water Commissioners approved an amendment to extend its contract with Waterfall Security Solutions until 2031. Although this presented itself as a simple hearing on water and data safety, it quickly became a heated debate focused on Waterfall Security Solutions being an Israeli company.
The St. Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS) has used Waterfall Security Solutions to help protect St. Paul residents from cyberattacks on the water system while ensuring that operational data is shared across networks. Ultimately, this agreement will cost $70,000 for the next five years.
The St. Paul Water Commission shared that staffers and experts had researched multiple companies and found that Waterfall Security Solutions best met the technical, security, and financial needs for the city.
Supporters of the contract with Waterfall Security Solutions urged commissioners that their primary concern should be protecting the region’s drinking water and to rely on the recommendations from experts.
“The issue before the board is not geopolitics,” said community member John Farber. “It is whether to accept a cybersecurity solution from a proven expert that your professional staff determined was the best choice based on technical merit, reliability, and value.”
Supporters of the amendment argued that the opposition to Waterfall Security Solutions was not about shortcomings in their services, but rather for their connection to Israel.
“If the only reason to reject a qualified company is the nationality of its founders, then we stop talking about cybersecurity, and we start talking about politics,” another community member said.
In contrast, opponents of the contract, many of whom are connected to local pro-Palestine organizations, argued that St. Paul should not be in business with an Israeli company as the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza continue.
Many opponents called for the broader boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) of Waterfall Security Solutions, as they believe that the company’s ties to Israel support the blockage of water and genocide.
“BDS is not discrimination or hate, and it’s not antisemitism. It’s divestment from genocide,” said Montana Hersch. “Keep our tax money free of genocide.”
This sentiment was echoed by Simar Shaw: “Israel has repeatedly and deliberately attacked water facilities.” They continued by saying, “It’s critical to not hire a company that has committed more crimes and has denied access to water.”
Before the voting on the contract, Vice President Nelsie Yang introduced a motion that would amend the contract to two years instead of five. The motion was not seconded by any other commissioner, causing it to fail.
Following the vote, Yang shared her disappointment with fellow commissioner members.
“I will have to say I’m very disappointed that there wasn’t support for [the motion],” said Yang. “To me, I think that the two years would have been a win for all of us, to showcase that we are listening to folks.”
In a statement after the vote passed, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas said in a statement that the board “safeguarded our water from the pollution of Israel-hating grandstanding.”
“This decision was never about the Middle East. It was about the Midwest; it was about protecting the drinking water of the people of St. Paul,” the statement read. “Waterfall is an Israeli company. Their world-leading cybersecurity technology was selected by the Water Board’s engineers and cybersecurity professionals. Those same experts recommended its continued use. Today, the Commissioners respected that expertise.”