Israel said on Thursday that it caught a Jordanian businessman spying on behalf of Iran in Israel earlier this year, including in the West Bank.
Thaer Shafut, 32, was in the West Bank last year “on behalf of Iranian intelligence to carry out missions that were meant to establish a network in Israel and the West Bank, which would be used for covert operations for the Iranians,” according to the Shin Bet.
“Shafut entered Israeli territory in July-August 2018 after receiving instructions from two Arabic-speaking Iranian operatives in Lebanon and Syria, who identified themselves as Abu Sadek and Abu Jaffar. These meetings allegedly continued through 2018 and 2019,” reported The Times of Israel.
The Shin Bet said that Shafut was to “recruit spies who would help collect intelligence for Iranian interests.”
He was apprehended in April, but this development was censored by the military until Thursday.
He was charged on June 10 with “contacting a foreign agent, contacting an enemy organization and attempting to bring enemy funds into the region,” reported The Times of Israel.