The State Prosecution filed an indictment at the Beersheba District Court against Roi Mizrahi and Almog Attias for carrying out a series of intelligence missions on behalf of agents operating for Iranian intelligence agencies, the Attorney-General's Office announced Friday.
Both Mizrahi and Attias are 25 years old and from Nesher, southwest of Haifa. The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced the arrest of the two on Tuesday.
Mizrahi has been charged with contacting a foreign agent, assisting an enemy in wartime, and carrying and transporting weapons. Attias was charged with contact with a foreign agent and providing information to the enemy, intending to harm the state's security.
Mizrahi was first contacted by Iranian agents through Telegram, according to the indictment, who then recruited Attias and invited him to join the mission.
Mizrahi received tasks via Telegram, including gathering information on civilian infrastructures, documenting sensitive locations, transferring items, and installing surveillance cameras across Israel, the indictment accuses.
The Iranian agents paid Mizrahi through cryptocurrencies, which allowed him to purchase operational equipment such as phones, cameras, and SIM cards, and to act according to the agents' instructions while using encryption and remote control applications, the indictment continues.
Mizrahi was given tasks by agents, including to burn a note bearing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's name, and to locate personal details about a specific woman. Mizrahi was also asked to install a camera in a shopping center in Haifa or a vantage point overlooking Haifa Bay, but he refused, before agreeing to install a camera hidden in a tree in Nesher that could film the street and transmit live footage to the Iranian agents, the indictment added.
Attempting to target Defense Minister Israel Katz
After recruiting Attias, Mizrahi convinced him to install a camera in Kfar Ahim, the community where Defense Minister Israel Katz lives. The two purchased the required equipment and traveled at night, but withdrew when a vehicle they suspected belonged to security forces passed by the planned installation area.
Katz responded to Mizrahi and Attias's arrest, saying, “I commend the Shin Bet and the Israel Police for thwarting the Iranian attempt to harm me in my capacity as Israel’s defense minister. Iran is the head of the terror octopus, promoting terrorist activity directly and through the terror organizations it supports, targeting leaders and all citizens of the State of Israel.
“My heart and concern are first and foremost with the hostages, who are exposed and defenseless in Hamas’s tunnels, and with Israeli citizens facing Iranian threats both at home and abroad," Katz continued.
“I will not be deterred by any threat and will continue to fulfill my commitment to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and to sever the head of the Iranian octopus and the arms of the terror tentacles it supports.
Mizrahi refused the Iranian agent's demands to place cameras elsewhere after this, but the agent sent a photo of Mizrahi's face and blackmailed him that they would report him to Israeli authorities. This threat led Mizrahi to agree to plant more cameras in southern Israel, the indictment continued.
The first Iranian agent cut off contact with Mizrahi, leading him to attempt to find a replacement handler. An agent identifying himself as "Guest" contacted Mizrahi, assigning additional tasks, including pointing cameras at a Haifa restaurant, and transferring a package between two points.
Mizrahi noticed that the package contained 10 parcels believed to hold explosives, and expressed concern that the packages might explode mid-transfer, but completed the mission, for which he was paid 4,000 shekels, the indictment states.
"The respondents committed security offenses at a time when the State of Israel is conducting one of the toughest wars it has ever known, on many fronts including Iran," the attorney who filed the indictment stated.
"The respondents were aware that the foreign agents are hostile elements to the State of Israel, yet they continued and collaborated with them. The respondents’ actions were halted thanks to the operations of the security forces, which led to their arrest,” the attorney added.
In April, a similar event occurred when Israel Police and Shin Bet arrested Moshe Attias, an 18-year-old resident of Yavne, accused of being a spy for the Islamic Republic of Iran and conducting missions for the regime.
Police and Shin Bet added that the Iranian official who was in contact with Moshe Attias had him document the hospital floor where former prime minister Naftali Bennett was staying when hospitalized for a week in April. Moshe Attias also described to the Iranian official how the room had guards securing the former prime minister.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.