Another Israeli citizen has been arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran in exchange for payment, police and Shin Bet spokespeople announced in a joint statement on Thursday.

Prosecutors indicted Petah Tikva resident Daniel Kitov on Thursday morning in the Lod District Court on the charge of contact with a foreign agent.

Security forces arrested the 26-year-old earlier this month for allegedly spray-painting incendiary graffiti messages in Petah Tikva and Rosh Ha’ayin at the behest of his two Iranian handlers.

Kitov carried out these acts of vandalism for money, said police. Ynet reported that the Israeli citizen received $7,000 for the graffiti.

One of the messages, painted alongside Hamas’s inverted red triangle symbol, invoked “the conquerors of Khaybar,” in reference to the 7th century Muslim siege against Jewish tribes in Khaybar during Islam’s nascent years.

Another read: “Children of Ruhollah” — alluding to Iran’s first supreme leader, Ruhollah Khomeini.

The agents also urged the suspect to photograph military bases and the home of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, however, he never acted on these suggestions, police said. Kitov offered to photograph the home of MK Benny Gantz, but did not follow up on the plan.

The Iranian agents Kitov made contact with took the aliases “Mike” and “Roni Bar” on their chats, the latter referring to the security service head, per Ynet’s report.

Police noted in their statement that Iranian agents have ramped up their efforts on social media platforms to recruit ordinary Israeli citizens as spies, promising them money to carry out such missions.

In most of these cases, the suspects began by carrying out small, innocuous tasks, which gradually grew into more serious offenses, like intelligence gathering and assassination plots.

In January, two IDF reservists were arrested and slapped with charges of contact with a foreign agent and aiding the enemy during wartime. The case’s main suspect was accused of passing along highly sensitive material about Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense technology while serving in its unit.

In October 2024, seven Israelis were arrested for allegedly photographing and collecting information on IDF bases and facilities, including the Nevatim and Ramat David air bases, which were targeted by both Iran and Hezbollah in 2024.