Nazareth woman charged with spying for Iran

A woman from the northern city of Nazareth was charged Wednesday with spying for Iran and filming sensitive sites, including the Haifa oil refinery, the police and Shin Bet announced.

According to the statement, Shomua Abu Abed was detained in March, during the war with Iran that started February 28, and had been passing information to a foreign agent since October in exchange for hundreds of dollars in cryptocurrency.

Abu Abed allegedly carried out “a large number of missions,” including photographing security sites, IDF bases, and the Haifa oil refinery, as well as transmitting information about an unnamed Israeli former security official.

Abu Abed “carried out the missions despite suspecting from the early stages of the relationship that she was being deployed by an Iranian entity,” the statement said.

Abu Shomua was charged in the Nazareth District Court, and law enforcement requested she be held in custody until the conclusion of the proceedings against her, police and the Shin Bet said.

Police have over the past two years arrested more than 50 suspected spies for Iran in some 40 cases that have been made public. Police are reportedly forming an Iran espionage investigations unit, after a man was accused in a recent case of plotting to harm former prime minister Naftali Bennett.

The growing number of suspected spies has already prompted Israel to open up a new wing in Haifa’s Damon prison for those indicted on such espionage charges.

Only one of the alleged spies has been convicted so far, as most cases are still making their way through the legal system.

Charlie Summers contributed to this report.