A pair of young soldiers have been arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran in return for money - Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg
The Telegraph: Israel has arrested two soldiers on suspicion of spying for Iran in return for money, its police force said on Monday.
The primary suspect was said to have served in the IDF’s Iron Dome air defence unit and is alleged to have begun passing on classified material to an Iranian handler in September.
He is alleged to have recruited a friend who served in the military’s Tel Aviv headquarters and to have put him in touch with an Iranian contact.
Both suspects are also alleged to have sprayed pro-Iran graffiti and hung banners in Tel Aviv carrying the slogan Children of Ruhollah, referring to Ruhollah Khomeini, the first supreme leader of Iran after the 1979 revolution.
The two men, both 21, were charged with transferring classified information and aiding the enemy during wartime, police said.
Israeli authorities have arrested a number of alleged Iranian spies in recent months. In October, seven Israeli citizens were arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran on Israeli army bases and gathering information on the Iron Dome missile defence system.
The system plays a vital part of Israel’s air defence capabilities and has been used to take down missiles trained on the country’s civilian centres.
Rockets fired ai Israel from Gaza are intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system - Fatima Shbair/AP
The Shin Bet security agency and Israeli police said they dismantled a “spy network” involving Israeli citizens who were gathering “sensitive information on IDF bases and energy infrastructure” for Israel’s arch-enemy.
The suspects were all Jewish Israelis from Haifa and other areas in northern Israel. They were identified as Azis Nisanov, Alexander Sadykov, Vyacheslav Gushchin, Yevgeny Yoffe and Yigal Nissan, and two minors who could not be named.
In September last year, a 73-year-old Israeli was arrested over an Iranian plot to kill Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister.
Moti Maman, from Ashkelon, in southern Israel, was smuggled twice into Iran, where talks were held over paying him as a hitman, according to Israeli security officials.
Yoav Gallant, the former defence minister, and Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency, were also allegedly discussed as targets in addition to Mr Netanyahu.
Iran’s recruitment of Israeli citizens has caused great concern in the Israeli security establishment. Israeli intelligence has also thwarted a number of plots against Israeli citizens abroad in recent years, some of which Iran was allegedly behind.
In World
-
In a tense exchange of words on January 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a series of critical statements regarding negotiations with Ukraine, during an interview with Pavel Zarubin, the author of The Moscow Program. Kremlin. Putin.
-
The European Union is moving toward another round of punitive economic measures against Moscow, with a proposal to cut 15 additional Russian banks from the SWIFT international financial messaging system, according to officials familiar with the discussions. The move, part of the bloc’s 16th sanctions package since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, signals an effort to tighten financial pressure on the Kremlin as the war nears its third anniversary.
-
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has dismissed speculation about early parliamentary elections, affirming that the next vote will take place as scheduled in June 2026. With Armenia’s parliamentary system granting executive power to the leader of the ruling party, the upcoming elections are seen as crucial not only for the country’s domestic trajectory but also for its relations with Azerbaijan, Russia, and Georgia.
-
President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to develop a robust air defense system aimed at countering growing threats from hypersonic, ballistic, and cruise missiles. The initiative, described in the decree as "Iron Dome for America," draws inspiration from Israel’s missile defense system but envisions broader applications to address threats from nuclear powers and other adversaries.
Leave a review