Two Israelis arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran

Investigators believe they were in direct contact with Iranian intelligence operatives and have allegedly traced several payments to digital wallets held by the suspects.

The arrests are the latest in an apparently growing pattern of cash-for-spying cases orchestrated by the Islamic Republic.

Just this week, Elimelech Stern, a 22-year-old yeshiva student from Beit Shamesh, was sentenced to three years behind bars for a similar offence.

Stern was convicted of carrying out several operations for Tehran, with the court noting that he was motivated by money and not ideology.

"The crime for which the defendant was convicted is serious and has great potential to harm the security of the state and undermine Israel’s very existence," ruled Judge Miriam Lomp of the Jerusalem District Court.

"Contact with a foreign agent does harm to security due to the concern for the transfer of information to the enemy, knowingly or unknowingly, especially when this contact is translated into threats against people in Israel.

"The severity of the defendant’s crimes is heightened by the fact that he is an Israeli and the country therefore puts its faith in him."

And a similar case last year saw an 18-year-old arrested on suspicion of accepting Iranian orders to collect intelligence on the security detail of former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

The suspect was arrested in April 2025 on suspicion of national security offences after allegedly collecting intelligence outside the Meir Medical Centre in Kfar Saba during the former premier's cardiac catheterisation operation.

Under instruction from his handlers, who were said to have been linked to "Iranian terror elements", the man is alleged to have conducted "a large number of different missions, while understanding that these could harm state security, all for the sake of financial gain”.