TheMediaLine
WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE TO CHANGE THE MISINFORMATION
about the
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR?
5 Jewish Israelis of Iranian Descent Arrested for Allegedly Spying for Iran
Undated Facebook profile picture of alleged Iranian intelligence operative "Rambod Namdar." (Courtesy Shin Bet)

5 Jewish Israelis of Iranian Descent Arrested for Allegedly Spying for Iran

Five Jewish Israelis were arrested in a joint investigation by the Shin Bet security agency and the Israel Police Lahav 433’s Unit of International Crime Investigation and indicted on Wednesday in Jerusalem District Court on charges of spying for Iran. The Shin Bet announced the arrests on Wednesday afternoon, of the four women and one man, who are all Jewish immigrants from Iran or the descendants of Iranian immigrants. The court has imposed a gag order on their names. The Israeli women were approached on Facebook by a man named “Rambod Namdar,” who claimed to be a Jewish resident of Iran. They continued to communicate with him by Whatsapp, including video chats in which his face was obscured. The Israeli women, who had relationships with Namdar over several years, suspected that he was an Iranian intelligence operative, but still did what he asked of them and received money from him, according to the Shin Bet. Among the tasks that they performed were photographing the US Embassy – now a consulate in Tel Aviv, photographing the inside of Israeli government offices, providing information on security at a local mall and other sites, photographing polling stations during national elections and providing information about other Iranian immigrants to Israel. He also asked one of the women to encourage her teenage son to improve his Persian and to join a military intelligence unit. “We call upon Israel’s citizens to be on the alert for unusual approaches or requests on the internet, all the more so from those identifying as Iranian citizens,” the Shin Bet said in a statement. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett decried the “efforts to influence the citizens of Israel and Israeli society, sow discord and polarization, undermine political stability in Israel and damage the public’s trust in the government.”

TheMediaLine
WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE TO CHANGE THE MISINFORMATION
about the
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR?
Personalize Your News
Upgrade your experience by choosing the categories that matter most to you.
Click on the icon to add the category to your Personalize news
Browse Categories and Topics