Shin Bet enlists ultra-Orthodox leaders to counter Iranian spy recruitment

Most of those accused of spying are Israeli citizens who were approached online and promised financial rewards for completing assignments.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israel’s Shin Bet security agency has partnered with Israel Police and influential ultra-Orthodox religious leaders in a campaign to warn the haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) public about Iranian attempts to recruit Israeli citizens as spies through social media, The New York Times reported.

The effort follows reported cases in which Iranians targeted members of the ultra-Orthodox community by offering money in exchange for cooperation.

Security officials enlisted senior rabbis, journalists, and community figures to deliver the warnings directly to their audiences in an effort to deter further recruitment.

Rabbi Yigal Cohen, a member of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate Council, issued a video appeal urging followers not to cooperate with Iranian operatives.

“I am begging you, there is no greater blasphemy than seeing a Torah-abiding, observant Jew betray his people,” he said in the video posted to social media.

Haredi commentator Yisrael Cohen, who helped connect security officials with community leaders, told The New York Times that the recent espionage cases initially stunned the community but also prompted a coordinated effort to raise awareness and discourage others from becoming involved.

Israel Cohen, another prominent haredi commentator, also used his media platforms to spread the warning campaign. He told the newspaper he “understood the need to warn against the danger and stop it.”

Mendel Unger, a haredi journalist, recorded a video message in Yiddish, widely spoken in the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox community, cautioning viewers against carrying out activities on behalf of Iran.

Despite the public awareness campaign, Israeli security officials have struggled to curb Iranian recruitment efforts, including during the recent war with Iran, the newspaper reported.

Most of those accused of spying are Israeli citizens who were approached online by anonymous agents linked to Iran and promised financial rewards for completing assignments.

Some suspects have been foreign nationals residing in Israel on visas.

The New York Times reported that Iranian intelligence relies on a decentralized social media network to identify individuals experiencing financial hardship or debt.

Operatives allegedly pose as businesspeople or journalists, assigning recruits seemingly routine tasks before gradually directing them toward increasingly sensitive security-related missions.