Jerusalem man indicted for alleged spying for Iran

An indictment has been filed at the Jerusalem District Court against an Israeli resident of Jerusalem who was arrested last month for carrying out espionage missions on behalf of Iran, prosecutors say.

Erdler Israel Amoyal, 23, is charged with handing information to the enemy and having contact with a foreign agent. Prosecutors ask the court to order him arrested until the end of legal proceedings against him, and to confiscate the vehicle, phones and devices used to carry out the alleged offenses.

Amoyal’s arrest, the latest in a series of plots involving citizens allegedly recruited by Iran that security agencies say have been foiled in recent months, was revealed on Tuesday by the Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police.

He was allegedly in contact with an Iranian agent for several months and carried out various surveillance and vandalism tasks in exchange for payment in the form of cryptocurrency, worth some NIS 7,900 ($2,200). He is also accused of searching the internet for bomb-making instructions and proposing a terror attack targeting Jerusalem’s light rail system.