Amir Khan had made a deal to release imprisoned friends in Iran in exchange for the murder.

By World Israel News Staff

Pakistani terrorist Amir Khan, who was hired by Iran in a failed attempt to kill an Israeli businessman in Georgia earlier this month, was instructed to do so by slitting his throat.

According to the testimony given after Khan was arrested by Georgian authorities, he refused to comply with the request and demanded a gun instead, Israel’s Walla News reported citing Georgian media.

“I had two chances to do it…but I told him that I could not kill a person with a knife, and he got me a gun,” the would-be assassin said of his handler, a 45-year-old man known only as Sufian.

Sufian recruited Khan into the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, which is in charge of terrorist operations against Israeli and Western targets overseas, shortly after entering Georgia.

Georgian State Security Service announced Tuesday afternoon that it had uncovered an Iranian terror cell operating in the country that was plotting to assassinate an Israeli national.

A woman was also arrested along with Khan, as well as two Iranian translators.

“Before arriving in Georgia, the Pakistani citizen was given the necessary instruction and was given information about the object of the murder,” State Security Service said, referring to Khan.

“Later, the mentioned person arrived in Georgia through a third country, where he was met with a rented apartment and given the means of conspiracy connection.”

Khan shadowed the Israeli man targeted by the cell, while others tied to the group provided him with firearms and ammunition, which was stored in several hidden caches. Khan later admitted that he had flown from Dubai and had easily entered Georgian soil.

Police confiscated weapons obtained by the terror cell, along with phones and other equipment.

Georgian authorities say they are still working to identify and locate other suspects associated with the cell.

Over the course of the interrogation, Khan revealed that he was very familiar with the security protocol surrounding his target Itzik Moshe, the head of the “Beit Israel” advocacy group.

Khan had made a deal to release imprisoned friends in Iran in exchange for the murder. He was told he had until November 7 to carry out the assassination.

Moshe told Walla News that he first learned about the plot against his life from Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Moshe said he believed the attack was part of a larger plot to undermine an antisemitism conference he was in charge of organizing. “The fact is that he set the date November 7 to finish the task by, which was the day the conference opened,” Moshe told Walla.

In July, an Iranian terror cell operating out of Turkey was broken up after local police foiled a plot to kidnap and murder Israelis.

Israel’s National Security Council has warned of Iran’s efforts to carry out a retaliatory attack against Israeli targets following the assassination of the deputy commander of an elite unit in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, which Iran blamed on Israel. Khodaei was said to have been planning attacks against Israelis.

In addition to Khodaei, three other Iranian officials died under mysterious circumstances in Iran within a single month.

The post Assassin hired by Iran originally told to ‘slit the throat’ of Israeli businessman in Georgia appeared first on World Israel News.

Caucasus republic says Pakistani assassin arrested as authorities break up Iranian-backed terror cell that targeted Israeli businessman.

By World Israel News Staff

An Iranian-backed plot to murder an Israeli businessman was foiled, authorities in the Republic of Georgia said Tuesday.

The Georgian State Security Service announced Tuesday afternoon that it had uncovered an Iranian terror cell operating in the country that was planning to assassinate an Israeli national.

Two people were arrested and a third cell member identified, authorities said.

The two suspects taken into custody included a man with dual Iranian and Georgian citizenship and a Pakistani national.

An Iranian national, who apparently organized the cell, was identified but not captured.

“Before arriving in Georgia, the Pakistani citizen was given the necessary instruction and was given information about the object of the murder,” State Security Service said.

“Later, the mentioned person arrived in Georgia through a third country, where he was met with a rented apartment and given the means of conspiracy connection.”

The Pakistani national, who was to have carried out the assassination, shadowed the Israeli man targeted by the cell, while others tied to the group provided him with firearms and ammunition, which was stored in several hidden caches.

Police confiscated weapons obtained by the terror cell, along with phones and other equipment.

Georgian authorities say they are still working to identify and locate other suspects associated with the cell.

In July, an Iranian terror cell operating out of Turkey was broken up after local police foiled a plot to kidnap and murder Israelis.

Israel’s National Security Council has warned of Iran’s efforts to carry out a retaliatory attack against Israeli targets following the assassination of the deputy commander of an elite unit in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, which Iran blamed on Israel. Khodaei was said to have been planning attacks against Israelis.

In addition to Khodaei, three other Iranian officials died under mysterious circumstances in Iran within a single month.

The post Georgia foiled Iranian assassination plot against Israeli businessman appeared first on World Israel News.

When Beit Yisrael was inaugurated, those in attendance included then-Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel Ze’ev Elkin.

By World Israel News Staff 

If you check the official Israel Government page for the country’s embassy in the Republic of Georgia, you will come upon the name and photograph of Shabtai Tsur, himself born in Vani, Georgia.

It says that he has served in the position since July 2016.

However, about a 12-minute drive away in the capital city Tbilisi, there is a second Israeli embassy of sorts, reports Yediot Ahronot.

It’s not an official embassy but gets a lot of attention from Israelis in official positions, says the news outlet.

It’s called Beit Yisrael (“Israeli House”) and hosts economic forums, holds academic events, issues position papers, maintains ties with the local media, and is even visited by Israeli MKs and Georgian politicians, according to the report.

Beit Yisrael is run by 60-year-old Itsik Moshe, born in a small Georgian Jewish town. He moved to Israel when he was 10 years old and returned to his original country in the 1990s, establishing the first branch of the Jewish Agency for Israel in the former Soviet Union, notes the Israeli daily.

He was involved in the immigration to Israel of about half-a-million Jews, including some 40,000 from Georgia, says Yediot Ahronot.

In 2012, when Georgia voted with European Union states to upgrade the Palestinians to observer status at the U.N., Moshe decided that he had to get involved in explaining Israel’s case to his former country, though doing it on a private basis.

Moshe is said to privately finance his campaign, which, according to the report, costs $200,000 annually to operate.

When Beit Yisrael was inaugurated, those in attendance included then-Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel Ze’ev Elkin, who was also born in the Soviet Union – currently, Ukraine.

Georgian government ministers are also said to have attended.

Moshe said that he believed the way to teach Georgians about the “real” Israel was to have them understand that if they became friendlier with the Jewish State, there were would be a dividend of Israeli assistance in the areas of hi-tech, investment and tourism, among other spheres.

Moshe insists that he wishes to operate in tandem with the Israeli embassy and invites Ambassador Tsur to all events at Beit Yisrael, but he bemoans that there is a disconnect, says Yediot Ahronot.

He told the paper, “We feel that in every activity there is a deliberate interference on the part of the official representatives of Israel. When I invite members of the Knesset to Georgia, the ambassador exerts pressure on them. Moshe emphasizes that he invites the ambassador to all events in an official letter.”

The formal embassy’s disapproval hasn’t stopped 20 MKs from visiting Beit Yisrael, members of both the government coalition and the opposition. He has also visited the Knesset.

Moshe argues that he does gain financial profit from his pro-Israel operation, and although he is a businessman, he says, there is no conflict of interest.

His hope is that when the current official ambassador soon concludes his term, relations between the official and unofficial Israeli embassies in Tbilisi will improve.

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