Seven Israeli citizens were arrested last month and accused of performing about 600 spy missions for Iran over a two-year period, prosecutors announced on Monday.
The suspects are accused of spying on Israel’s security figures and military bases, the Times of Israel reported. At least three of the Israel Defense Forces facilities were targeted by Iran and Hezbollah via missile or drone strikes earlier this month.
“This is one of the most severe cases we’ve ever investigated,” Israeli police chief superintendent Yaron Binyamin said. “There is a real possibility that the main charge will be aiding the enemy in wartime, for which the penalty is death or life imprisonment.”
Miki Zohar, who serves as Israel’s minister of culture and sports, called for the death penalty on anyone convicted of treason during war.
“The phenomenon of traitors to the country harming Israel’s security for the sake of money while we are fighting for our future in an existential war demands the harshest measures, including a law allowing for the death penalty for aiding the enemy in wartime,” Zohar said following news of the alleged Iranian spies. “This is the only way we can create a clear deterrent that will prevent further similar cases.”
Treason is considered grounds for capital punishment in Israel, and has only been imposed twice in the Jewish state’s 76-year history. Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was one of the two people executed by Israel’s judicial system.
All seven alleged spies, who were arrested on September 19, are residents of Haifa after emigrating from Azerbaijan. The group includes one soldier who left the Israeli military and two minors between 16 and 17. The five adults were identified as Azis Nisanov, Alexander Sadykov, Vyacheslav Gushchin, Yevgeny Yoffe, and Yigal Nissan; the minors’ names were not released.
The Iranian agents scouted IDF locations and gathered intelligence on the components of Israel’s Iron Dome air-defense system, according to Israeli authorities. They also provided their handlers with information about where Iranian missiles landed following Tehran’s April attack on Israel, so that Iran could land more precise strikes in the future.
A senior official in the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, concluded the spies’ actions “caused damage to the security of Israel” during its war with Hamas and fighting with other terrorist proxies backed by Iran.
Additionally, the spies collected intelligence on a top figure in Israel’s security establishment with potential plans to assassinate the unnamed official. They received hundreds of thousands of dollars, some in cash and the rest in cryptocurrency, in exchange for their covert efforts, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said they intend to file an indictment against the seven suspects on Friday and request that they be held in detention during the legal proceedings.
Israel has foiled several alleged Iranian plots, including one involving a Jewish man accused of pursuing an assassination attempt against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and possibly two other high-ranking officials. Israeli authorities indicted the man last month on suspicion of working for Iran. He was arrested in August.