Police arrest two US yeshiva students who photographed sensitive security site
Both men freed after Jerusalem judge rejects police request to extend detention by 5 days; suspects’ lawyer says they are ‘innocent passersby,’ claims facility gate left unlocked
Police arrested two American citizens this week on suspicion of photographing a sensitive security facility in Jerusalem.
The two, both young men in their 20s studying at a yeshiva in the capital, were caught on Wednesday by a security guard at a site near the city’s entrance — reportedly a Defense Ministry compound — after getting past the facility’s perimeter fence.
According to several reports, including in Ynet and i24NEWS, one of the gates leading into the facility had been left unlocked that afternoon.
Police arrived at the scene shortly after the two were caught and arrested them. A search of their phones’ camera rolls revealed documentation of the site.
They were brought to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, where police requested to extend their detention by five days. The judge rejected the request, ordering their release.
In the request to extend their remand, the police representative alluded to past espionage cases uncovered by authorities in recent months, in which dozens of civilians were revealed to have kept ties with Iranian intelligence agents.
“We are in wartime, and in many cases, we have seen that the suspects have been in contact with foreign actors. As such, we must investigate the background to this case,” he told the judge.
The pair’s defense attorney characterized the suspects as “innocent passersby” without sinister intent, and claimed the two had immediately agreed to leave after encountering the guard.
“We are talking about two innocent passersby without any ulterior motives. The behavior of the investigating unit and the agency responsible for securing the confidential facility is unclear to me. How did they get inside without [causing a] disturbance?” he said, as quoted by i24 News.
“They [the guards] said to them that it is private property and they said they would leave, without running away, and they also handed over their mobile phones,” the attorney claimed. “I would hope that not all confidential facilities in the State of Israel are guarded like this.”
The Times of Israel Community.