Israeli arrested for plot to kill local scientist in exchange for $100K from Iran
Vladimir Verhovsky, 35, suspected of communicating via Telegram with Iranian agents, carrying out tasks including graffiti, hanging flyers, intelligence gathering on Israeli official
A 35-year-old Israeli man was indicted on charges of planning to assassinate Israeli figures on orders from Iran, the Israel Police and State Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.
Vladimir Verhovsky, from central Israel, was charged with contact with a foreign agent, carrying and transporting a weapon, and conspiracy to commit a terrorist act.
According to the indictment, Verhovsky made contact sometime in August 2024 with an entity operating on behalf of Iranian intelligence services, who portrayed himself as an Israeli citizen living in Canada, calling himself “Eli.”
Verhovsky carried out a series of tasks for “Eli,” despite knowing he was hostile to the State of Israel, in exchange for transfers of between $30 and $200 to a cryptocurrency wallet. The tasks were coordinated in English over the Telegram app.
The tasks included spray-painting graffiti reading “LEHI” in English and Hebrew, and “HITLER=NETANYAHU,” in different locations. He also buried tracking devices behind a bus station and filmed demonstrations in Tel Aviv.
To communicate with “Eli,” Verhovsky purchased a dedicated cell phone, paid for using money he received from “Eli” for that purpose, the indictment said.
In late September, Verhovsky agreed to gather intelligence about a resident of Tel Aviv’s Borla Street, and took photographs of the interior of the resident’s building. He also presented a photograph of the resident to neighbors and asked whether they knew him, and knocked on the resident’s door.
Finally, Verhovsky agreed to kill an Israeli scientist, in exchange for $100,000, the indictment said.
He was dispatched by the Iranian agent to pick up a gun from a bag in a discreet public location, to use in the murder. When he returned from retrieving the weapon, Verhovsky was arrested by security services.
He is slated to appear before a court hearing on Wednesday for an extension of his remand, police said.
“The defendant committed security offenses while the State of Israel was waging one of the most difficult wars it has ever known, on many fronts, including Iran,” the prosecutor noted in a hearing, according to the State Attorney’s Office statement.
The announcement of Verhovsky’s charges came just two days after another two Israelis were arrested for carrying out a series of acts of sabotage on behalf of Iran and plotting to kill a senior Israeli figure.
It was not immediately clear whether the two operations were connected.
The Shin Bet in recent months has announced a series of alleged Iranian plots, in which Iran had tried to trick Israelis online into carrying out missions for Tehran.
Last month, a Jewish Israeli civilian was arrested after he was allegedly recruited by Iran to advance an assassination plot of Israel’s prime minister, defense minister, or the head of the Shin Bet.
In January, authorities uncovered a scheme in which Israelis were allegedly recruited to gather intelligence on high-profile figures.
