Israel claimed on Wednesday January 12 that it had dismantled a "
secret Iranian spy network
" recruiting Israeli women on social networks, to then charge them with various missions such as retrieving documents from the army.
Read alsoThe confessions of the spies of Shin Beth shake Israel
In a statement, the Shin Beth, the internal intelligence service, clarified that several Israeli women, whose identities are kept secret, had been recruited on Facebook by an Iranian agent called "
Rambod Namdar
" and posing as a living Jew. in Iran. "
Although the women suspected that the man in question was a member of the Iranian services, some continued their contacts, accepting assignments in exchange for sums of money
," the Shin Beth added, saying that after the recruitment on Facebook , communications most often passed through encrypted WhatsApp messaging.
One of the suspects, a 40-year-old woman from Holon (center) had been in contact with "
Rambod
" for years and had carried out several assignments, including taking pictures of the US embassy in Tel Aviv.
The alleged recruiter had also asked him to convince his son, before the start of his military service, to integrate the direction of military intelligence in order to then recover through him sensitive documents, continues the Shin Beth, also called Shabak in Israel.
Another suspect, a 57-year-old woman from Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem, also received a request to urge her son to join military intelligence and received the sum of $ 5,000 from "Rambod" for several missions over four years.
Read also Doubts over Israel's ability to strike Iran
Israel, in "permanent campaign against Iran"
Among these missions is the establishment in his city of an association of Jews from Iran by providing information on each of them, taking photos of public buildings or trying to get closer to an elected Knesset. (Parliament).
The dissemination of these allegations by the Israeli services comes as the Jewish state views a possible international agreement on the nuclear program of Iran, its number one enemy against whom it is waging a shadow war. “
The State of Israel is in a permanent campaign against Iran. It is clear: we are seeing relentless efforts and attempts by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to recruit Israeli citizens
, ”commented Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, calling on Israelis to remain“
vigilant
”on social media.
Last month, several Israeli sites were the target of cyber attacks blamed by experts on Iran.
And in November, the defense minister's housekeeper Benny Gantz was accused of spying on behalf of a group of hackers linked to Tehran.
