Ashkelon man indicted for allegedly spying for Iran as cases continue to pile up
Police say 37-year-old Amir Malka was paid several thousand dollars; Bat Yam mayor appeals to citizens to stop helping Iran, says even he received recruitment texts
Prosecutors indicted an Ashkelon resident on Thursday on suspicion of spying for Iran over the course of several months, as Tehran has stepped up its efforts to recruit Israelis online in exchange for large sums of money.
The announcement of the arrest came as Israeli authorities try to crack down on the phenomenon, which has grown to the point that the mayor of a major city appealed directly to his citizens this week to dissuade them from engaging in espionage on behalf of Iran.
In the most recent case, the suspect, 37-year-old Amir Malka, earned $4,225 in cryptocurrency as compensation for his alleged espionage activities, police said. He was arrested last month, in an investigation carried out by Jerusalem District detectives and the Shin Bet.
Malka was charged in the Beersheba District Court with maintaining contact with a foreign agent.
Prosecutors said he first came into contact with Iranian agents in June, when he received a Telegram message that read: “Cooperation with Iran can bring peace and security to the region… For more details, contact the Telegram bot.” He clicked the link, then was contacted shortly after by a foreign agent, according to the indictment.
Malka was allegedly enlisted by his handler to place a cigarette package containing a note in a trash can, as well as to buy a bottle of Arak and drop it off in a specific location. He was asked to send coordinates of where he placed the items, but gave false coordinates to the agent, prosecutors said.
He also apparently lied to the agent about having entered Egypt.
Malka faced charges as security agencies ramped up their efforts to deter Israelis from spying for Iran. Iran has cast a wide net in recruiting Israelis to carry out acts of espionage, particularly since the 12-day war in June between Israel and Iran.
It appears that the Shin Bet has shifted its approach in recent weeks — rather than simply cracking down on offenders, the agency is now enlisting municipalities’ help in spreading information to combat the phenomenon.
In a video message earlier this week, Bat Yam Mayor Tzvika Brot urged residents who had made contact with Iranian agents to come forward, implying that they would face reduced consequences if they admitted to the offense.
In an interview with Channel 12 Wednesday night, Brot claimed that millions of Israelis, himself included, have received texts from Iranian agents recently, as Tehran attempts to recruit as many spies as possible into its network.
The recruitment texts “don’t hide” and plainly state that the senders are Iranian agents seeking to pay Israelis to carry out espionage missions, he claimed.
“The amazing thing that we’ve seen in recent weeks is that a very shocking number of Israelis… clicked on those links and made contact with the Iranians,” Brot said, adding that “on the fringe, there is a small number of people who are truly Iranian spies, possibly for ideological reasons,” but the “decisive majority” are regular citizens.
Brot claimed that in an esteemed high school in one of the cities that implemented the initiative, a double-digit number of students admitted to having made contact with Iranians online. Mayors in several cities are currently spearheading a new initiative to raise awareness among students in a bid to prevent them from falling into the Iranian espionage trap.
Over the past two years, dozens of Israelis have been charged with espionage on behalf of Iran. In many of the cases, Iranian agents recruited Israelis via social media, specifically the Telegram messaging app.
Many alleged spies recruited by Iranian agents begin with relatively innocuous tasks, such as vandalizing buildings with anti-government and pro-Iranian messages, then sending photos of the graffiti to their handlers. These gradually turn into more serious offenses, like intelligence-gathering and assassination plots.
The growing number of Iranian agents even prompted Israel to open up a new wing for them in Haifa’s Damon prison. Only one of the alleged spies has been convicted so far, as most cases are still making their way through the legal system.
The Times of Israel Community.