Shin Bet, police foil 2nd Iran spy plot targeting Bennett in past month; 1 arrested

The Shin Bet security service and Israel Police said Monday that they had arrested a resident of the central city of Rishon LeZion suspected of carrying out surveillance missions under the direction of Iranian intelligence, including photographing near the home of former prime minister Naftali Bennett.

According to a joint statement, the suspect – identified as 30-year-old Lekacho Demsash, who was arrested last month – had been in contact with Iranian handlers in recent months and was asked to carry out a series of tasks in exchange for money.

Investigators said the assignments began with simple missions and later escalated to photographing locations in his home city and elsewhere, including near Bennett’s residence.

Security officials assessed that the activity was part of Iranian intelligence-gathering efforts aimed at facilitating an attack on the former prime minister, noting similarities to a separate case made public last month involving another suspect accused of spying near Bennett’s home.

An indictment was filed earlier Monday at the Central District Court in Lod, authorities said.

The Shin Bet and police have warned Israelis against maintaining contact with hostile foreign actors, including through social media.

Over the past two years, dozens of Israelis have been charged with espionage on behalf of Iran. In many of the cases, Iranian agents recruited Israelis via social media, specifically the Telegram messaging app.

On Saturday, an Iran-linked hacking group claimed to have broken into former minister Ayelet Shaked’s mobile phone, sharing about 60 pictures and videos supposedly stolen from her device.

A day later, thousands of Israelis received threatening text messages containing their personal information, in what appears to be an attempt at psychological warfare by Iranian agents.

“This is your last chance to save yourself and your family. Our shagriruyot [embassies] are open to you. We know you,” the English-language message read. Some recipients received a link to a page containing their personal information, including their national ID number.

The National Cyber Directorate called the texts an “attempt at intimidation and social engineering with the goal of creating psychological pressure,” in a statement quoted by Hebrew outlets.

Charlie Summers contributed to this report.