The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Tuesday announced that it had thwarted a plot by Iran to use two Israelis to spy on Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Roi Mizrahi and Almog Atias, the 24-year-old suspects from Nesher, were lured in by Tehran due to millions in gambling debt and the promise of compensation to help pay it off.
According to the security agency, the two were allegedly involved in receiving and moving an explosive object.
They also allegedly took part in trying to place a surveillance video camera near the entrance to Katz’s hometown of Kfar Ahim.
However, in the case of the surveillance camera, a Shin Bet patrol nearby saw them, leading them to flee before they could set the surveillance camera in place.
This was the second camera they attempted to put up after the two had allegedly set up an earlier one in the Haifa area and provided their Iranian handlers control over it.
Mizrahi and Atias have no prior criminal record.
Their Iranian handlers built up their loyalty slowly with lower-level tasks like filming their own homes or writing and burning a message against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before asking them to do more dangerous and criminal activities.
According to the Shin Bet, their activities for Iran started earlier in 2025, and they were arrested in April.
Further, the agency said it has thwarted more than 20 such plots by Tehran since the start of the current war and that the two suspects are due to be indicted by the prosecution in the coming days.
Katz is the highest ranking officer to date who native Israelis helped Iran plot against during the war.
Katz responded to the arrest, "I will not be deterred by any threat."
He responded to the 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.”
Katz continued, “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.
“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.