Police accuse Nof Hagalil man of burning cars, spray-painting messages for Iran
Artyom Zolotarev suspected of taking on tasks even after he realized who was paying him, but authorities say he also turned down requests to spy for Tehran or aid murder plot
An Israeli man was arrested last month on suspicion of carrying out acts of vandalism on behalf of Iran, the latest in a series of plots involving Israeli citizens allegedly recruited by Iran that security agencies say have been foiled in recent months.
Artyom Zolotarev, 33, was detained in November over suspicions he was “committing security offenses related to contact with Iranian intelligence officials and carrying out security missions in Israel under their direction, for financial gain,” the Shin Bet and police announced Monday.
An indictment for contact with a foreign agent, arson, and vandalism was set to be filed against Zolotarev on Monday at the Nazareth District Court.
The Nof Hagalil resident is suspected of graffitiing anti-government and pro-Iran slogans in several northern cities and setting fire to cars in Haifa on separate occasions. Authorities say Zolotarev balked when asked to undertake espionage activities, including a murder-for-hire plot, though he continued to carry out other missions, even after growing wise about the nature of his handlers.
The joint Shin Bet and police investigation found that in October, Zolotarev was in contact with a figure online using the handle “Eliad,” who suggested he perform “tasks of spraying graffiti against the government to change the civil situation in Israel.”
Zolotov painted anti-government material onto walls in Nof Hagalil, Haifa, and Migdal Ha’emek, sending footage of the act to his handler. He then erased the graffiti, according to the investigation.
In exchange for the vandalism, Zolotarev received $2,800 in cryptocurrency, the Shin Bet said.
Zolotarev began to realize that Eliad was an Iranian agent after he was asked to carry out more serious tasks, such as taking photos of residential buildings and an electrical transformer.
He turned down both requests and later also refused an offer to carry out a murder for $125,000, after which he would have been smuggled to Russia or Iran. He also refused a request to buy a gun and hand it to someone else, the Shin Bet said.
His suspicions about Eliad were also piqued by news reports on TikTok regarding the arrests of suspected Iranian spies, including Moti Maman, an Israeli accused of secretly entering Iran twice and plotting with figures there to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others.
Since September, Israeli authorities have announced arrests in six separate cases involving individuals or cells suspected of spying or plotting attacks on behalf of Iran. In some, Tehran tried to trick Israelis online into carrying out missions on its behalf. In other cases, individuals are alleged to have knowingly operated on its behalf for monetary gain.
Despite becoming aware that Eliad was an Iranian agent, Zolotarev continued to make contact with him and carry out missions, including setting a car on fire in Haifa in exchange for $2,000, according to law enforcement.
Under the direction of a second handler named “Boaz Mar,” Zolotarev later set fire to a second car in Haifa, recorded a video, and sent it to the agent. He also spray-painted pro-Iran graffiti reading “Children of Ruhollah” — referring to former Iranian supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini — in Haifa and Afula, the Shin Bet said.
On Friday, the Shin Bet revealed that it had arrested a father and son from the northern Druze village of Mas’ade on suspicion of spying on troops and passing other sensitive information to the Quds Force, the extraterritorial arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
In September, seven Jewish Israelis were arrested on suspicion of spying on security figures and IDF bases for Iran. They were accused of collecting information for their Iranian contacts about several Israeli citizens, including a senior security figure, and may have been part of a plot to ultimately assassinate the figure. Maman was also arrested that month.
On October 14, a Ramat Gan man and his 18-year-old partner were arrested on charges that they carried out various acts of sabotage and vandalism on behalf of an Iranian agent.
On October 16, the Israel Police and State Attorney’s Office announced the arrest of a man from central Israel who allegedly acquired a weapon in order to kill an Israeli scientist on instructions from an Iranian agent, after performing several smaller tasks on the agent’s behalf.
On October 22, seven East Jerusalem men, six of them Israeli citizens, were arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran and plotting attacks in Israel.
Those cases came after authorities in January uncovered a scheme involving Israelis who were allegedly recruited to gather intelligence on high-profile figures.
