Jerusalem-area brothers indicted for spying for Iran in exchange for NIS 100,000

Authorities have cracked a new case of Iran-linked espionage involving two brothers from the Jerusalem area, police say, after the pair was indicted today on security offenses.

The suspects are both Israeli citizens in their 20s. Due to national security concerns, the case was kept under a gag order that lasted until today. The suspects’ names are still barred from publication.

The brothers were arrested in January and have been charged in the Jerusalem District Court of contact with a foreign agent, passing intelligence to the enemy and impersonating an individual.

According to the indictment, the brothers received more than NIS 100,000 ($32,000) from several Iranian operatives while fully aware they were interacting with hostile actors.

They made extensive use of artificial intelligence to create fake maps and military reports, and even posed as an IDF intelligence officer in Unit 8200, prosecutors write.

West Bank District police investigators worked with the Shin Bet to probe the suspicions and completed the joint investigation last month.

“While some of the information that was transferred was not necessarily credible, it still had the potential to be used by the hostile actor,” police say.

Ariel Atari, the pair’s defense attorney, decries the indictment as “outrageous” and claims the investigation material proves the brothers are “Zionist patriots who sought to ‘sting’ the Iranians.”

The lawyer says his clients should not be indicted but rather awarded the Israel Prize for their “contribution to the security of the state” through what he insists were successful efforts to “harm the Iranian enemy.”