Palestinian arrested for allegedly being recruited to carry out terror attack for Iran

Police and Shin Bet agents arrested a Palestinian man in recent weeks on suspicion of being recruited by Iran to stage a terror attack in central Israel.

The suspect, a man in his 30s residing in East Jerusalem’s Issawiya neighborhood, had been in contact with an Iranian agent who asked him to carry out various “missions” against the State of Israel, says a police spokesman.

The suspect reportedly received thousands of shekels for hanging signs, burning IDF uniforms, and gathering information about sites and streets in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and Mahane Yehuda Market.

The agent asked the recruit to stage a terror attack in central Israel, set fire to a forest, and smuggle weapons into the West Bank, but the suspect was arrested before any of the plans were set into motion.

Footage shared by a spokesman shows the suspect hanging a sign over a highway running through the Mount Scopus tunnel in Jerusalem, on an unknown date.

Footage shows a Palestinian suspect hanging a sign over a highway running through the Mount Scopus tunnel in Jerusalem, on an unknown date. (Israel Police)

While arresting the suspect, police seized cash he received from the agent, a can of spray paint, two airsoft guns, and a substance thought to be a drug.

Officers also found in his home a banner with a spray-painted message reading: “Bibi is a dictator, we are not weeds. Ronen Bar, we support you.”

The East Jerusalemite’s detention was extended, and state prosecutors are expected to file an indictment against him for serious security offenses in the coming days, law enforcement says.

Police in recent years have arrested dozens of suspects, many Israeli citizens, for espionage on behalf of Iranian agents.

Typically, handlers contact potential recruits online, offering them money to carry out missions. At the outset, these tasks consist of less serious crimes such as political vandalism, but quickly escalate into severe security offenses, like intelligence gathering on IDF facilities and other sensitive sites.