For the past year, Israel has arrested dozens of Israeli citizens on suspicion of spying for Iran, Yedioth Ahronoth has reported on.
The Hebrew newspaper revealed on Saturday that some of the recruits were asked to photograph sensitive facilities and to collect information including documentation of Israeli army bases, strategic sites and homes linked to senior Israeli officials.
The newspaper said that since September 2024, Israeli authorities have uncovered 35 serious Iranian espionage cases. In some, individuals acted alone; in others, they were part of organized cells, with a mission to sow chaos, burn vehicles and carry out failed assassination plots.
It said the youngest of their recruits is a 13-year-old boy from Tel Aviv. Others had served in the reserves and regular forces.
They leaked sensitive information, including documentation of sensitive military bases, strategic sites and homes linked to senior Israeli officials.
The recruits included Mordechai “Moti” Maman, 72, of Ashkelon. He entered Iran twice and discussed with the agents the possibility of carrying out terror attacks in Israel.
The Iranian handlers discussed with him the option of assassinating senior figures such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
After Maman told them the level of security surrounding senior officials made such attacks impractical, the sides discussed alternative terror and espionage activities, including possible attacks on former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett or mayors. Maman was arrested in September 2024.
In October 2024, four cells were arrested, including a couple who had been in contact with Iranian agents since 2021 and groups of five to eight people on suspicion of conducting espionage for Iran.
One of the cases involved seven Israelis who immigrated from Azerbaijan, including a father and son, suspected of maintaining ties for two years with operatives from Iran.
As part of that relationship, the suspects photographed military bases that later became targets in Iran’s ballistic missile attack last year. Some of the group were caught surveilling a senior Israeli official and his son, allegedly as part of an assassination plan.
Authorities also uncovered another case in which seven people aged 19 to 23 from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Safafa were arrested on suspicion of conducting espionage for Iran for several months. Their main assignment was to assassinate an Israeli nuclear scientist and a mayor.
In early 2025, another espionage case was uncovered, and an indictment was filed against an Israeli from Petah Tikva, on charges including contact with a foreign agent and passing information to the enemy.
According to the indictment, the recruit photographed the neighborhood of National Unity party leader Benny Gantz and a power station in Tel Aviv.
His handler contacted him via Telegram and offered payment through a digital wallet in exchange for carrying out security-related tasks. These included documenting security facilities, spraying political graffiti, arson attacks on vehicles and other acts.
During 2025, more than nine indictments have been filed against cells and individuals accused of spying for Iran, most of them Jews the newspaper said.
Investigations revealed that most of the spies had carried out various missions in exchange for payment.
The majority of the recruits had not travelled to Iran to complete their recruitment, but communicated with Iranians through social networks or during their presence in other countries.
