IDF soldier from Beersheba caught spying for Iran during his mandatory service

Reuveni is accused of passing detailed information about his base, including personnel estimates and emergency procedures, and promising to report when it shifted to war footing.

By Jewish Breaking News

Israeli prosecutors have filed a sweeping espionage indictment against Rafael Reuveni, a 22-year-old Air Force soldier from Beersheba, accusing him of working for Iranian intelligence while on mandatory IDF service.

According to the charge sheet, he allegedly turned his uniform and his smartphone into tools for Tehran.

Investigators say Reuveni was first contacted a few weeks ago via Telegram by an Iranian handler who dangled easy money in front of a young conscript.

From there, the missions escalated: he allegedly sent selfies and his home address, filmed a park near his house, a bus station and a mall in Beersheba, and even photographed his military ID card — all while knowing he was dealing with an Iranian agent.

The indictment describes how the handler then pushed him into darker territory.

Reuveni is accused of passing detailed information about his base, including personnel estimates and emergency procedures, and promising to report when it shifted to war footing.

In one mission, he was allegedly sent to Rishon Lezion to locate a handgun hidden by another recruit; when he refused to hand it to a third party, he agreed to move the weapon to a new hiding place for 2,000 shekels.

Prosecutors say the Iranian operative also used him as a courier, instructing him to stash a cigarette pack and a 20-shekel bill in a Beersheba park with a note reading “Go to Jordan” and to collect a SIM card and buy hydrogen peroxide for unclear purposes—some tasks he failed to complete.

In total, Reuveni allegedly received around $2,700 into a digital wallet in return for his cooperation.

The case was cracked in a joint Shin Bet–police operation; Reuveni was arrested in October based on intelligence and has been in custody since.

He is now charged with contact with a foreign agent and passing information to an enemy in wartime, offenses that can carry lengthy prison terms.

Israeli security officials are framing this as part of a much wider Iranian campaign to recruit “soft targets” inside Israel through social media and messaging apps, turning ordinary citizens and young soldiers into low-cost assets.

Media summaries of Shin Bet data say this is roughly the thirty-second Iran-linked spy case exposed since the war began, on top of a separate network of nearly 30 suspects rolled up last year.

While the missions described in the indictment may look small — photos of parks and malls, a hidden gun, a stray SIM card — security officials stress that they are classic building blocks for surveillance, terror support and future sabotage.

The message from the Shin Bet is blunt: Iran may be fishing for vulnerabilities inside Israeli society, but anyone who bites will be treated as part of an enemy intelligence operation and hunted accordingly.

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