Iran recruiting Israeli citizens to spy against their government, with social media the key to luring them in

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Iran recruiting Israeli citizens to spy against their government, with social media the key to luring them in

时间：2024-10-25 09:40 来源：未知作者：admin 阅读：次

Israeli citizens are accused of helping Iran.

In short:

Israeli authorities have arrested more than a dozen people over two weeks on charges of carrying out missions for Iran.

Their actions ranged from setting fires, spraying anti-government graffiti and photographing military bases through to planning assassinations against high-profile Israelis.

What's next?

Security experts believe Iran will continue its recruitment drives into the future, seeking to do whatever it can to undermine Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli establishment.

Israeli spy agency Mossad may be renowned globally for its shadowy missions carried out in the name of the state.

Its exploits often shock and surprise the world, and inspire plots in television shows and movies.

But Mossad is not the only one engaging in espionage across the Middle East.

More and more Israelis are turning against their country, recruited by Iran in its mission to undermine and destroy its enemy.

Its methods of recruitment and missions of choice are more frequently being brought into the spotlight, with some of their operatives being picked up by Israeli authorities and hauled before the courts.

"Iran is looking for every angle that it can find," Dr Yoel Guzansky, senior fellow at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies said.

"They are trying to find any crack that they can find in Israeli society with Israeli citizens.

"Perhaps on a weekly basis, we hear all kinds of Iranian attempts to recruit Israelis."

The northern spy ring

On Monday prosecutors filed charges against seven Israelis living in Haifa in the country's north, accusing them of gathering intelligence about military bases and air defence systems over the course of the last two years.

In around 600 alleged missions for Iran in that time, the group of immigrants from Azerbaijan are accused of photographing some of the bases and Iron Dome batteries.

Prosecutors allege some of the more than 180 missiles fired by Iran on October 1 were targeting those sites, as a result of the group's work.

They were allegedly paid in cryptocurrency and cash — the latter delivered to them by Russian nationals who had travelled to Israel.

The spies allegedly took photos of Iron Dome anti-missile batteries.

The very next day, authorities revealed another seven people from East Jerusalem had been charged.

The men, aged between 19 and 23, from Beit Safafa are accused of planning the assassination of an Israeli nuclear scientist and a local mayor.

Reports suggested the ringleader had told police he was "proud an Iranian had turned to me" to plan and commit the offences.

The spy and the model

Last Monday, a man and a woman stood stony faced in the dock of Tel Aviv's District Court as the charges against them were read out.

30-year-old Vladislav Victorson and his 18-year-old model girlfriend Anna Bernstein had been arrested in Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv, accused of working for an enemy of the Israeli state.

Victorson was the main man, according to authorities.

He was allegedly recruited by an Iranian agent, speaking Hebrew, on messaging platform Telegram and brought his girlfriend and one other person into the fray.

At the more serious end of his alleged offending, Victorson stands accused of plotting to assassinate a public figure, who has not been named.

Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet alleges he was planning to throw a grenade at the individual's house, and was trying to stockpile weapons including a sniper rifle.

But it is not the only crime Victorson and Bernstein are charged with — the pair are also accused of lesser offences, such as spraying anti-government graffiti, setting cars on fire, breaking into ATMs and hiding money.

The reward for the crime spree was around $US5,000 ($7,477) — setting fires paid thousands of dollars, while each painted message earned $US20 ($30) a pop.

Shin Bet told the court Victorson had also tried to recruit homeless people to join the cause, but Victorson's lawyer said there was little strong evidence to back up the charges.

"What they are doing is classic subversion," Dr Guzansky said.

"They're trying to hurt targets inside Israel, individuals, and also to do a lot of incitement inside Israeli society."

The plot against an Israeli scientist

The charges against Victorson and Bernstein are not the only cases Israeli authorities are pursuing.

Just one day after their arrest, another man was picked up by Israeli authorities in Tel Aviv, 35-year-old Vladimir Verhovski.

Again, some of Verhovski's alleged offences border on the mundane — spraying graffiti and posting flyers among them.

But he is also accused of plotting to kill an Israeli scientist.

Police allege the hit would have brought him a $US100,000 ($150,000) payday, and he had plans to flee to Russia afterwards.

"Here we have crossed another boundary in terms of severity and audacity: the suspect was already armed with a pistol, magazine, and bullets," Superintendent Maor Goren of Israeli Police's Lahav 433 unit said in a statement.

Again social media was the key to his recruitment, with police and intelligence agencies saying Verhovski had been communicating with his handler in English on a burner phone.

"Like a fisherman, instead of using a single net they are dropping a very wide net in order to find what we can call small fishes," Dr Guzansky said.

"But [the scale and scope of their missions] can accumulate to a large mass."

The businessman smuggled into Iran

Last month, an Israeli businessman was arrested for allegedly being recruited by Iranian intelligence.

72-year-old Moti Maman's mission was to facilitate assassination attempts against a number of Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Moti Maman is accused of involvement in an Iranian-backed assassination plot targeting Benjamin Netanyahu.

This was in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran — something which Israel has not taken responsibility for, but which has been attributed to its agents.

It is alleged Maman was smuggled into Iran twice via Turkey and had demanded an advance of $US1 million ($1.5 million).

"I don't know what would have happened if they had given me the money, one million dollars, and what I would have done," he is alleged to have said during interrogation.

"We are only human."

His lawyer said he had made an "error of judgment."

Espionage between Iran and Israel not a new phenomenon

While more and more alleged spies are being detected by Israeli authorities, and missions may have become more frequent and daring since the war in Gaza began, Iranian and Israeli espionage missions have been happening for many decades.

In September, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it had busted open an Israeli spy ring operating across the country, arresting 12 people.

Iran also arrested another two dozen people it believed were involved in the plot to assassinate Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Gonen Segev (centre) appeared in court escorted by prison guards in Jerusalem on July 5, 2018.

Around the same time, the world watched on as Israeli intelligence agencies infiltrated supply chains to plant explosives in pagers used by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In 2021, an Israeli man working in Defense Minister Benny Gantz's residence was arrested and charged over trying to help Iranian operatives gain access to his boss' ministerial computer.

In 2018, a former Israel minister Gonen Segev was jailed for 11 years after being convicted of providing state secrets to Iran.

But as for Victorson, Bernstein and Verhovski, no conviction has been handed down yet as all three await trial.

By：https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-24/iran-recruiting-israeli-citizens-to-spy-against-their-government/104483774

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