Four Israeli Women Arrested For Providing Intelligence To Iran

Four Israeli women who sent pictures and other information to an Iranian operative have been accused of spying for Iran, Israel’s domestic intelligence service said.

The women, who were all Jewish immigrants from Iran according to local media, were indicted for "serious crimes" over the past month, Shin Bet said in a statement on January 12.

The Iranian operative, a man calling himself Rambod Namdar, originally contacted the women on Facebook posing as an Iranian Jew, Shin Bet said.

Although the women suspected the man was an Iranian operative, they still provided him with intelligence in return for payment, according to the statement. In some cases, the contacts went on for several years.

The women are alleged to have sent various photographs to the Iranian, including of U.S. diplomatic missions in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, an election polling station, an Interior Ministry office, and a shopping mall.

The intelligence agency said the information could have been used to carry out terrorist attacks.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett praised intelligence officials for preventing “hostile terrorist activity against the state of Israel."

"Iran's attempts to harm Israel's security are not limited to security and intelligence but also expand to efforts to influence Israel’s citizens, Israel’s society, to sow polarization and division, to undermine Israel’s political stability and damage public confidence in the government,” he said.

Based on reporting AP, dpa, and Haaretz