Israel’s Shin Bet Says It Arrested Iranian Jewish Spy (Photos)
On August 11, the Israeli Shin Bet security agency announced that it had arrested an Iranian Jew on suspicion of spying for his home country.
The suspected spy, who has relatives in Israel, was detained right after landing in Israel, The Shin Bet said that he admitted that he had come to Israel to gather intelligence and take photos for Iranian intelligence.
Before coming to Israel, the suspect met with Iranian security officials who handed him a tissue box intended for the disposal of camera equipment, phones, mobile chargers and money. He was also told that he would receive addresses to monitor in Israel.
After the investigation was completed by the Shin Bet, the suspect was refused entry to Israel and boarded a plane to head back to Iran.
“This event is part of a broad Iranian effort to establish espionage and terror axes in Israel, alongside the influence in the network to widen the social divide,” said the Shin Bet. “The Shin Bet, together with its partners in the security system, works all the time and will continue to work resolutely to detect and thwart Iran’s attempts to act against the State of Israel both in the face of terrorist activity and espionage and cyber.”
Iranian intelligence stepped up attempts to collect information on Israel in recent years, relying mainly on spies and cyber attacks.
Last week, the Shin Bet said that Iranian intelligence attempted to collect information from Israeli researchers and civil servants in a phishing campaign by using fake profiles on LinkedIn.
The fake accounts contacted Israelis on LinkedIn and sent them a file either with an invite to a conference or for articles and studies. Nevertheless, these files were actually malware that would allow the senders to take control of their victims’ computers.
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