Arab Israeli ambulance driver outed as Iranian spy who monitored president, gov’t minister

Ambulance driver recruited by Iran spied on President Herzog and Finance Minister Smotrich, authorities say.

By World Israel News Staff

An Arab Israeli ambulance driver has been indicted on allegations that he exploited his access to hospitals to collect intelligence for Iran, including information about emergency preparations and photographs taken during a visit by President Isaac Herzog and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Amir Hisham Mohammed Titi, 34, of the Arab town of Bi’ina in the Galilee, was charged Thursday in the Haifa District Court following a joint investigation by the Shin Bet and the Israel Police Northern District’s central investigative unit.

Titi was arrested on June 29 by undercover Border Police officers, according to a joint statement from the security agencies.

Investigators allege that Titi used his work as an ambulance driver, which gave him access to medical centers across the country, to photograph hospitals and provide an Iranian handler with information about their operations during both routine conditions and national emergencies.

The allegations are particularly sensitive because Israeli hospitals have moved patients, equipment and essential departments into protected areas during periods of missile and drone attacks. Details about which services remain above ground, where emergency facilities are located and how hospitals operate during wartime could potentially be useful to an enemy seeking to disrupt medical care.

During a visit by Herzog and Smotrich to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, Titi allegedly contacted his handler on his own initiative and alerted the Iranian operative that the two senior officials were at the hospital.

Prosecutors say he photographed Herzog and members of the president’s entourage and sent the image to the Iranian handler.

The indictment alleges that Titi’s assignments extended beyond hospitals.

He was reportedly instructed to travel to Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, where he filmed the area while carrying a sign displaying photographs of hostages. The alleged use of the sign may have allowed him to appear to be participating in the demonstration while documenting the location for his handler.

Titi was also allegedly sent to film a protest near the Horev Center in Haifa.

In another mission, he traveled to Amikam, a moshav in northern Israel where former defense minister Yoav Gallant lives. Prosecutors say Titi photographed homes, streets and a local clinic, although authorities have not alleged that he located or reached Gallant’s residence.

The assignments followed a pattern identified in numerous alleged Iranian recruitment cases uncovered by Israeli authorities. Suspected handlers have frequently approached Israelis through social-media platforms or messaging applications and initially requested apparently low-level tasks, such as photographing public places, hanging signs or documenting demonstrations.

Authorities say the requests can gradually develop into the collection of intelligence on military facilities, infrastructure, security personnel or senior officials.

Titi allegedly received tens of thousands of shekels for his work. According to the joint statement, payments were transferred through bank accounts belonging to members of his family and through a digital wallet.

The authorities did not immediately disclose how Titi first came into contact with the alleged Iranian operative, how long he was active or precisely how many hospitals he documented.

The indictment was filed by attorney Yehuda Dayan of the Haifa District Prosecutor’s Office.

“This is serious activity by an Israeli citizen who assisted the enemy during wartime,” the Shin Bet and police said.

The agencies said they viewed attempts by Israeli citizens to cooperate with hostile intelligence services with the utmost severity, particularly when the activity could endanger the public or expose information about critical infrastructure and emergency capabilities.

They also urged Israelis to be cautious when approached online by unknown individuals offering payment for photographs, deliveries, surveillance or other assignments, even when the initial request appears harmless.

Titi’s indictment comes amid an extended Iranian effort to recruit people inside Israel using money and remote communications. Israeli authorities have arrested dozens of citizens and foreign residents in a succession of cases involving alleged Iranian handlers.

In one case announced earlier this week, a former member of a classified IDF unit was charged with maintaining contact with an individual who identified himself as an Iranian intelligence operative. The defendant was also allegedly asked to recruit another soldier.

Other cases have involved allegations that Israeli recruits photographed air-defense systems, military bases, ports, power facilities and the residences of public officials. Some defendants were allegedly asked to vandalize property or distribute propaganda before being offered more serious intelligence assignments.

An Iron Dome reservist was indicted in March on allegations that he gave an Iranian handler information about interception-system operations, the locations of batteries and Israeli Air Force bases in exchange for cryptocurrency.

Israeli prosecutors have also charged minors and foreign nationals in alleged Iranian recruitment schemes. A 14-year-old boy was accused earlier this year of filming a hospital and residential areas and of being asked to gather information on Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

Security officials say financial incentives are a central feature of the recruitment effort. Payments have commonly been made through cryptocurrency or digital wallets, allowing handlers to remain outside Israel and avoid direct meetings with recruits.