Israeli charged with spying on ex-defense minister Gallant for Iran

Prosecutors filed charges Monday against a man for allegedly gathering intelligence on former defense minister Yoav Gallant on behalf of an Iranian agent.

The defendant, Fares Abu al-Hija, 32, was arrested in late January after taking photos of streets near Gallant’s home in Amikam at the behest of his handler, according to the indictment.

A joint statement from the police and the Shin Bet security service said the defendant is from the Galilee village of Kaukab Abu al-Hija, about an hour’s drive north of Gallant’s residence.

He first came into contact with the Iranian agent on the Telegram messaging app while searching for work in August last year, according to the indictment.

Between October and January, al-Hija carried out requests made by the person, who called himself “Martin,” even though he suspected he was a foreign agent, the statement said.

According to prosecutors, among the tasks al-Hija completed were to purchase and then hide cellphones and chargers at various locations around Haifa, activate the devices, install communication apps on them, record where they were stashed, and then pass on the information to his handler. He was also asked to take an envelope containing the password to a cryptocurrency account to a location in Zichron Yaakov, and to photograph a cafe in Tel Aviv.

Al-Hija was paid in cryptocurrency to carry out the intelligence-gathering missions. In return for taking photos and videos of the cafe, he earned $1,000 in cryptocurrency, according to the indictment.

In January, al-Hija was asked to photograph Gallant’s home. He was arrested at the location shortly after having sent the photos to his handler.

He was indicted at the Haifa District Court on the charge of contact with a foreign agent. Prosecutors requested that he be kept in custody until the end of legal proceedings against him.

Gallant was the defense minister from 2022 until 2024, when he was fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over political differences. In the past, he served as head of the Israel Defense Forces Southern Command.

In their statement, police and the Shin Bet noted that Iran is increasing its efforts to engage Israelis as spies within the country.

Law enforcement “takes a very serious view of any involvement in such activities and will continue to bring to justice those involved in harming the country’s security and its citizens,” they said.

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.

Last week, two Israeli citizens were arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran in exchange for money, and earlier this month, a 22-year-old ultra-Orthodox yeshiva student from Beit Shemesh convicted of conducting espionage missions for Iran was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and given a NIS 10,000 ($3,200) fine.

Many alleged Israeli 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 a new wing for them in Haifa’s Damon prison. Only one of the alleged spies — Stern — has been convicted of espionage so far, as most cases are still making their way through the legal system.

Another Israeli was convicted on the lesser charges of contact with a foreign agent and entering an enemy state without authorization over meetings he had with Iranian agents, some of them inside Iran, in which they discussed a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison