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Saturday, June 28, 2025
Alleged spy for Iran placed powerful explosives near home of defense minister — report
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A 24-year-old Israeli arrested in April as an alleged spy for Iran placed powerful explosives somewhere near the home of Defense Minister Israel Katz, as part of an “Iranian plot to assassinate” the minister, Channel 12 reveals.
The report says Roy Mizrahi has been charged with “aiding the enemy at a time of war.”
Channel 12 says the explosives were intended to explode when Katz passed close by. It says the Iranians were “very close to succeeding.”
However, the report does not specify how close to Katz’s home Mizrahi placed the explosives, nor does it state that the explosives were primed to detonate, indicating that Mizrahi’s action was not the final stage in the plot.
The report details how Mizrahi was recruited via a Telegram site and roped in a friend, Almog Attias.
They initially filmed various locations, including the Shin Bet headquarters and the Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv for an Iranian agent named Alex.
They were then asked to place two spy cameras in Katz’s hometown, Kfar Ahim, in southern-central Israel. They collected the cameras from a home in Holon and went to install them, but were spooked when a security vehicle with flashing lights drove by and tossed the cameras into some bushes.
Mizrahi was then asked to assassinate a scientist at the Weizmann Institute for a payment of $1 million, but he refused to do so after “Alex” refused to pay him half the sum in advance.
Subsequently, Mizrahi was contacted by a second Iranian agent, named Getz, who tasked him with placing the explosives near Katz’s home.
Mizrahi collected a blue bag with the explosives from one location and transported it to a spot near Katz’s home. It says he was paid in cryptocurrency for doing so. He also took a brick of the explosives home himself, the report says.
His lawyer told Channel 12 he was a foolish youth who had caused no harm to state security.
Superintendent Maor Goren said that, time after time in the war, it became clear that Iran was targeting sites that had been filmed for it by Israeli spies.
The report says, without elaborating, that the plot against Katz was one of several Iranian plots to target senior Israelis.
The Times of Israel Community.