Jakarta –
Israel’s internal security agency has arrested five Israelis accused of spying for arch-foe Iran.
The case involves four Jewish women of Iranian descent, whom the Shin Bet says were recruited by a controller who claims to be a Jewish man living in Iran.
The women are allegedly paid thousands of dollars to take photos of sensitive sites, monitor security arrangements and establish relationships with politicians.
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Their lawyer said his clients did not know the man was an Iranian agent.
They also insist they have no intention of harming Israel’s security.
But the Shin Bet said it was a “serious case” where there were plans to build an Iranian spy network inside Israel, and that the women faced “severe prosecutions”.
The controller in Iran, who calls himself Rambod Namdar, allegedly approached the women on Facebook and then kept in touch with them for several years via the encrypted messaging service WhatsApp.
“Despite the fact that the women suspected that the man in question was an Iranian intelligence agent, some of them kept in touch with him, agreed to perform various tasks he asked of them and received funding from him,” the Shin Bet said.
What are the women’s duties?
According to the security agency, a 40-year-old woman from the Tel Aviv suburb of Holon agreed to take photos of the US embassy while still in the city, as well as the interior of the Israeli interior and social affairs ministry building and a shopping mall.
The controlling man also asked him to tell his son to join Israeli military intelligence during his mandatory military service, the Shin Bet continued.
A 57-year-old woman from the town of Beit Shemesh is alleged to have also pushed her son to serve in military intelligence while handing over military documents.
The woman was then ordered to set up a club for Israelis of Iranian descent to collect their personal information, and to try to become close friends with a female Israeli MP, according to the Shin Bet.
He is also said to have installed hidden cameras in the massage parlor at his home, apparently to gather footage that could potentially embarrass his clients.
“The State of Israel is in an ongoing campaign against Iran. Obviously, we are seeing never-ending efforts by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to recruit Israeli citizens,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said.
“These efforts go beyond security and intelligence. They expand efforts to influence Israeli citizens and society, sow discord and polarization, undermine political stability in Israel and undermine public confidence in the government,” he added.
(ita / ita)
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