An Israeli businessman was charged Thursday (19) with conspiring with Iranian intelligence services to assassinate Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The man, whose identity has not been revealed, traveled twice to Iran via Turkey, where he met with a “wealthy Iranian businessman” who proposed that he carry out missions in Israel, such as transporting money or a weapon to a series of predetermined locations, or threatening other Israelis recruited by Iran who had not carried out their tasks.
In their second meeting, Iranian intelligence agents asked him to carry out assassinations of senior figures in Israel, including Netanyahu, Gallant and the head of the internal intelligence service (Shin Bet), Ronen Bar.
According to Iranian authorities, the operations were planned as a response to the assassination in Tehran in late July of Hamas’ then political leader Ismail Haniyeh, in an attack the Islamic republic blames on Israel.
The accused asked for $1 million before carrying out any plans, but the Iranians refused. They also gave him 5,000 euros to participate in the meetings.
“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 Shin Bet official said in a statement.
The agency warned that Iran will continue to try to recruit Israelis, especially those with criminal records, to carry out operations in the country.
The suspect, who had lived in Turkey for some time, was arrested last month in a joint operation by the Shin Bet and Israeli police. The domestic intelligence service stressed that any cooperation with Iranian entities in times of war “is a serious security offense.”
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