GSS achievement - and a warning sign for the country: "Iran may have recruited spy networks that Israel failed to expose" | Israel Today

The espionage affair, in which the GSS revealed that a group of Israeli women spied for Iran, caused astonishment among many Israelis this evening (Wednesday) who did not understand how the cell was formed. From this exposure, it was completely predictable. "On the other hand, former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit says:" I am in real shock, I find it hard to believe that it happened. " 

The senior official explains that the Iranian intelligence agents have had a good acquaintance with Israel since the time of the Persian Shah, when Israel and Iran cooperated intimately and learned a lot from each other.

"When you have early knowledge of the enemy and you invest a lot of energy in it for over 40 years, then obviously there will be successes in recruiting agents and agency. In fact, I'm surprised this is the first squad the Iranians managed to recruit here, "We exposed but did not publish the exposure," he says. 

The United States Embassy in Tel Aviv, Photo: Roni Shitzer

The same source describes how the operator manages to recruit its sources: "Sometimes the method is simple and is the good-natured exploitation of Israeliness. A 'Jew' from Iran contacts them and convinces them that they are actually helping the State of Israel, when in fact it is an Iranian intelligence factor "Unfortunately, it is very simple to carry out. However, I must compliment Israel and the counterterrorism elements in the country that have come up with such activities, because this is a sophisticated and constant Iranian effort."

"Operator has detected vulnerabilities"

In another conversation, former GSS chief Yaakov Perry says that he is not surprised by the very Iranian activity, but is surprised by the recruitment of Jewish women to spy for Iran. .

This is, of course, a new and unique aspect. "

How did the GSS come up with this activity, could it be that one of the women made a mistake?

The GSS has sliced ​​information networks, through which it is often exposed to information provided about Israel or information about Israel that is in the hands of hostile elements.

As soon as such information arrives, an action is taken to understand how this information was leaked, how it came out of the country and reached the same foreign intelligence source - trying to understand what the source of the information is.

I assume that this is one of the possibilities that led to the exposure of this squad, but these are only assumptions. "

Yaakov Perry, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon

"Great moral achievement for Iran"

Amos Gilad, a retired IDF general and former senior member of the Israeli defense establishment, tells Israel Today: If I had ever been told that a former minister would spy for Iran as the last spy, I would not believe it at all - but unfortunately it happened to us with Gonen Segev. "It is definitely an achievement for the Iranians to recruit a group of normative women who knew they were working for Israel's worst enemy."

"Such a network that has been operating for five years in the country is a very great moral achievement for Iran because it shows that our society is crumbling and can be penetrated," Gilad emphasizes.

"I do not want to imagine what harm would have happened if the son of one of these women had actually enlisted in the Armed Forces." 

"On the other hand, it must be said that there is also a very great achievement of the General Security Service that exposed this network," Gilad clarifies.

"Exposing a quiet and active network is not a trivial matter, and it shows the power of the Israeli intelligence world."  

Former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit, Photo: Dudi Vaknin

Amos Gilad, Photo: Dudu Greenspan

In addition, the former head of the Mossad, Shabtai Shavit, spoke with Israel Today and expressed complete surprise at the exposure of the cell.

"As someone who has stood for years within the system that protects the people of Israel and is engaged in recruiting Iranians to protect us, I am really shocked by this revelation and personally it is hard for me to believe that it did happen," Shavit said. 

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