An Arab Israeli was arrested last month after taking pictures near the home of former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on behalf of a “foreign agent,” prosecutors said on Monday.
Fares Abu al-Hija, 32, from the village of Kaukab Abu al-Hija in the Lower Galilee, carried out “a series of tasks” after being promised payment by a foreign agent who identified himself only as “Martin,” prosecutors added.
The State Attorney’s Office did not specify the origin of the foreign agent. However, the Israel Police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said that they identified the handler as an “Iranian intelligence entity.”
The suspect allegedly “purchased and concealed mobile phones and chargers at several locations in Haifa and Kiryat Haim, activated these devices, installed communication applications on them, documented the hiding locations and transferred documentation to his handler.”
Later, Abu al-Hija was said to have been asked to deliver an envelope with a password to a cryptocurrency account to a location in Zikhron Ya’akov, as well as to take pictures of an unidentified café in Tel Aviv.
The defendant was eventually caught red-handed and arrested after he traveled to Moshav Amikam, taking photos of the streets surrounding Gallant’s home and transferring them to the agent, prosecutors said.
Since the beginning of the War of Redemption on Oct. 7, 2023, around 40 indictments have been filed against some 60 Israelis recruited by Tehran. Most are ordinary citizens with no prior criminal record.
Last year, the Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Moti Maman, 73, to 10 years in jail after convicting him of contact with a foreign agent and unlawful entry into an enemy state.
Maman admitted that he had twice entered Iran, where he met with Iranian intelligence agents to discuss conducting terrorist activity, including the assassination of Gallant, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and other officials.
According to the charges, he traveled to Turkey on his own initiative, from where he was twice smuggled into Iran. In exchange for agreeing to carry out acts of terror, Maman demanded $1 million.
Netanyahu has ordered legal officials to revoke the citizenship of Israelis convicted of spying for Iran during the war, in what officials described as an unprecedented move that will apply to all citizens of the Jewish state.
The premier’s directive instructs law enforcement authorities to pursue citizenship revocation once legal proceedings are complete and a final, binding conviction has been handed down for serious espionage offenses carried out on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
