Iranian agent tried to recruit two Israelis in assassination plot, police say

Police and Shin Bet agents arrested three Israelis in two separate cases on suspicion that they carried out tasks for Iranian agents, the agencies said in a Monday statement.

Security forces arrested two Tiberias residents, Yoni Segal, 18, and Omri Mizrahi, 20, whom an Iranian agent allegedly tried to recruit into murdering an Israeli citizen in exchange for hundreds of thousands of shekels.

The agent offered to fly the pair out to another country, train them, and only then give them the identity of their assassination target. The plan never came to fruition.

The unnamed target was supposedly a top Israeli scientist, according to Channel 12 News.

The two, who maintained contact with their Iranian handler for three months, are also suspected of filming shopping malls and hospitals across the country.

Segal and Mizrahi sent the agent information on each mall’s layout, number of security guards and police in the area and the buildings’ emergency exits. They collected intelligence on malls in Haifa, Tiberias, and Tel Aviv, as well as Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital, police said.

In the other police probe, 33-year-old Mark Morgein, who lives in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, was arrested on suspicion of moving a grenade from a hidden location to another at the request of his handler. He maintained contact with the agent over the course of June, law enforcement said.

Police emphasized that he carried out the task with the knowledge that this explosive would be used to harm Israeli citizens.

He was also enlisted to film a video of a missile interception during open war between Israel and Iran and send it to his handler.

On Monday, Lahav 433 police investigators submitted a prosecutor’s declaration ahead of anticipated indictments against the suspects. The Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court extended the remand of all three by four days, until Thursday.

There has been a rise in recent months in Israelis being arrested and charged with carrying out acts of espionage on behalf of Iran.

On Sunday, prosecutors submitted an indictment against Rishon Lezion resident Denis Liakhov for carrying out tasks on behalf of an Iranian handler, including filming streets and residential buildings in Petah Tikva while sharing his geolocation on the Telegram messaging app.

The investigation revealed that Liakhov documented the wrong area, but still received a cryptocurrency payment from his handler.

On Saturday, it was revealed that an Israeli arrested in April on suspicion of conducting intelligence-gathering missions on behalf of Iran was involved in a plot to assassinate Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Additionally, three Israelis were arrested last week during the conflict with Iran. One of the suspects is believed to have gathered intelligence on the future daughter-in-law of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hebrew media reported, and another is believed to have photographed the homes of public officials and military bases.

In May, 18-year-old Moshe Attias of Yavne was charged with spying on former prime minister Naftali Bennett while the latter was hospitalized.

Additionally, in January, authorities said they arrested two IDF reservists — Yuri Eliasfov and Georgi Andreyev, both 21 — for allegedly passing sensitive material about the Iron Dome missile defense system to Iran in exchange for payments as small as $50.