Report: Ultra-Orthodox man arrested for spying on behalf of Iran

Hasidic man from Beit Shemesh reportedly arrested on suspicion of spying for Tehran.

By World Israel News Staff

An ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jewish man was arrested overnight on suspicion of spying on behalf of Iran, according to the Kikar HaShabbat news site.

A large number of police officers were spotted outside of the suspect’s home in the predominantly ultra-Orthodox Dalet 1 neighborhood of Ramat Beit Shemesh at around midnight between Wednesday and Thursday, the report said.

The man was arrested in his home and rushed out to a police vehicle.

During his arrest, the suspect was reportedly told he was be taken into custody on suspicion of espionage.

The suspect’s family said police broke down the front door of their apartment, after which officers grabbed the stunned suspected and took him into custody, while barring him from speaking with an attorney.

The man has been identified as a 24-year-old yeshiva student and a member of the Vizhnitz Hasidic movement. His family has protested his innocence.

A neighbor who spoke with Haredim10 claimed that the suspect is an “innocent student who only sits and learns”, and that he may have had his identity stolen by Iranian agents.

On Thursday afternoon, the suspect was brought before a judge for an extension of his arrest.

In 2022, five Jewish immigrants to Israel, all of Iranian descent, were arrested on suspicion of spying on behalf of Iran.

The suspects, four women and one man, took photographs of strategically important locations around the country, including the American consulate in Tel Aviv and Israeli government offices, at the behest of an Iranian agent posing as a Jewish man.

One of the five suspects, a 57-year-old woman living in Beit Shemesh, was paid $5,000 to perform a variety of tasks on behalf of the Iranian agent, including attempting to strike up a friendship with a woman serving in the Knesset.