A 19-year-old from central Israel accused of spying for Iranian interests had purchased a plane ticket to meet his handler in Dubai, the State Attorney’s Office says.
He and his alleged accomplice were formally charged today in the Lod-Central District Court, which issued a gag order on the case after they appeared before a judge.
Details that could identify either defendant are now barred for publication, despite police having previously named the two in a press release.
The main defendant, accused of contact with a foreign agent and passing information to the enemy, is suspected of having provided an Iranian agent with the personal information of his brother, an IDF soldier, and lying about his position in the army.
He created the false impression that his sibling served in the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate and had access to sensitive information, prosecutors say.
He allegedly enlisted the second defendant, a 21-year-old from central Israel, to forge a document detailing a fake US-Israeli plan to attack Iran, so he could send it to his handler.
Justifying their request to keep them in custody until convicted, prosecutors say the defendants are highly dangerous, since “the transfer of false information about Israel’s readiness for immediate war could have led to a surprise attack by Iran.”
Prosecutors say that as part of his contact with the agent, the main defendant attempted to negotiate his salary, and agreed to meet his handler in Dubai as part of the back-and-forth. Police previously stated that he had planned to fly to an Arab country to undergo “training.”
He allegedly received tens of thousands of shekels from the agent. Some of the money was paid to him in cryptocurrency, while some was transferred directly to his bank account from a company’s bank account, after Iran-linked hackers managed to access its funds, prosecutors add.
