Police and Shin Bet agents have arrested three Israelis suspected of spying on Iran’s behalf, the latest in a string of espionage incidents linked to the Islamic Republic.
The three had no known connection to one another and were detained separately by police.
One of the suspects gathered intelligence on the future daughter-in-law of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hebrew media reported Monday, soon after police announced the arrest of the alleged spy.
Dmitri Cohen, a 28-year-old resident of Haifa, was said to have gathered intelligence on Amit Yardeni and her family weeks before her scheduled wedding to Avner Netanyahu last week — which has since been postponed following the outbreak of open conflict with Iran.
He also spied on other Israeli citizens, the police and Shin Bet said in a statement, taking pictures of peoples’ homes and surrounding areas, which he then passed on to his Iranian handler.
He was promised $500 for each task he carried out, and received thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency since first coming into contact with the Iranian agent. He used a separate phone for his espionage activities, according to the police and Shin Bet.
Cohen was arrested a month ago, before the outbreak of war with Iran, by police officers in the Coastal District’s investigations and intelligence unit, in cooperation with the Shin Bet.
A prosecutor’s affidavit was filed against Cohen on Monday morning, the police and Shin Bet said. State prosecutors in the Haifa District Attorney’s Office are expected to file charges against him in the coming days.
Later on Monday, police and the Shin Bet announced the arrest of another suspected spy, a 27-year-old Tel Aviv resident who was detained for questioning a day prior by law enforcement.
He, too, allegedly photographed the homes of public officials and military bases, as well as sprayed graffiti throughout the city at the behest of an Iranian operative, receiving thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency as compensation.
In a raid on the suspect’s home Sunday, the Tel Aviv District Police’s Fraud Division seized several electronic devices and computers they suspect were used to communicate with the Iranian agent.
He was brought on Monday morning to the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, where a judge extended his detention until June 26.
Police also recently detained a 19-year-old from the Sharon region on suspicion of spying for Tehran, Ynet reported Monday.
The young man was thought to have contacted an Iranian agent and passed along confidential information to him over the course of the war.
The investigation is ongoing and being handled by the Shin Bet. Police have not yet commented on the arrest of the unnamed man, according to the outlet.
Over the past two years, Iran has ramped up its efforts to recruit ordinary Israelis as spies in exchange for money.
In most cases, Israelis are recruited by Iranian handlers online and begin by carrying out small, innocuous tasks that gradually grew into more serious offenses, like intelligence gathering and even assassination plots.
Near the outset of the war with Iran, security forces arrested two Israelis on the same suspicions. Their identifying details were barred from publication after a gag order was placed on the probe.
Of the dozens arrested and charged with espionage for Iran, only a few have been sentenced so far.