Arab Israeli who spied for Iran arrested

Israeli Arab man accused of helping Iran locate missile impact sites during June war in a bid to improve the accuracy of Iranian attacks.

By World Israel News Staff

An Arab Israeli man was arrested recently amid suspicions he acted as a spy on behalf of the Iranian government, prosecutors revealed on Thursday.

The State Attorney’s Office on Thursday filed an indictment in the Haifa District Court against Ahmad Shahab, 32 – a resident of Jisr al-Zarqa, an Arab town next to Caesarea – after Shahab allegedly transferred news reports to Iranian spy agencies during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran this past June.

According to the indictment, submitted by Attorney Sharon Edri of the Criminal Division of the Haifa District Attorney’s Office, during the June war with Iran, Shahab made contact via the Telegram app with a person posing as a German journalist.

The contact offered to pay Shahab for news reports which provided information regarding the locations of Iranian missile impacts in Israeli territory.

Prosecutors say Shahab understood that he was in fact in contact with a foreign agent working on behalf of the Iranian government.

Nevertheless, according to the indictment, Shahab on several occasions sent his handler news updates regarding the locations of missile impact sites and the damage caused, which he sourced from Israeli news websites.

In total, Shahab transmitted about 40 reports, for which he received approximately 1,200 shekels ($364) via the PayPal app.

As part of the operation, the Iranian agent asked Shahab to photograph the missile impact sites himself and even ordered a camera for Shahab to this end.

Shahab did not receive the camera, however.

At one point, the defendant asked his Iranian handler to transfer money to him in cash instead of through the PayPal app. The agent instructed him to go to a café in Haifa, where he secretly met with another person who handed him an envelope containing about 3,000 shekels in cash.