Israeli Citizen Arrested for Plotting Assassinations of Top Officials, Including Prime Minister Netanyahu
In a shocking development, Israeli police arrested an Israeli citizen suspected of being recruited by Iranian intelligence to plot the assassinations of top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to a joint statement by the police and Shin Bet, the Israeli citizen was smuggled into Iran twice and received payment for carrying out missions.
The suspect, identified as a businessman who lived in Turkey for an extended period, maintained connections with Turkish and Iranian individuals who introduced him to an Iranian businessman called Eddie. He was first visited Iran in May 2024 to meet Eddie, after he had “difficulty leaving” Iran. During this trip, he met someone called Hajjah, who was introduced as an Iranian security operative.
The police said he was asked to carry out security missions in Israel, including transferring “money or a gun”, taking pictures of crowded public places, and threatening other Israelis recruited by Tehran. In August, the investigation found that the arrested man was smuggled to Iran in a lorry, where he met with additional Iranian intelligence agents and was asked to carry out terrorist activities on Israeli soil, including promoting assassination attacks.
Some of the proposed assassinations were characterised as being revenge for the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July. Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of being behind Haniyeh’s death, but Israel has not commented on the killing.
The suspect was also asked to perform additional tasks, including recruiting members of Israel’s Mossad spy agency to be double agents. After asking for a $1 million advance, the Israeli individual was given 5,000 euros for taking part in the meetings and told he would be contacted in the future.
“This is a very serious case that exemplifies the enormous efforts of Iranian intelligence agents to recruit Israeli citizens to promote terrorist activities in Israel”, a senior Shin Bet official was quoted as saying.
The arrest highlights the ongoing threat posed by Iranian intelligence agents to Israeli security and underscores the need for vigilance and cooperation between Israeli law enforcement agencies to prevent such plots from being carried out.
