fbpx

News

Israel charges Iranian spy in West Bank

[ssba]

Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, said it charged a Jordanian businessman for espionage after he began operations in the West Bank on behalf of Iran.

Thaer Shafut, a 32 year old businessman, was arrested in April and indicted 10 days ago by the military’s Advocate General for allegedly making contact with the enemy, making contact with a hostile organisation, and conspiring to bring enemy funds into the area.

Shafut, originally from Hebron, is suspected of entering Israel on behalf of Iranian intelligence to build up and operate a number of cells to carry out espionage missions for Iran. The Shin Bet believes Shafut initially came into contact with Iranian intelligence when he was in Lebanon meeting two Arabic-speaking operatives who went by the pseudonyms “Abu Tzadak” and “Abu Jafar”. Additional meetings between Shafut and the operatives were held in Lebanon and Syria in 2018-2019. Shafut was instructed to establish a commercial infrastructure in Israel to serve as cover for future Iranian activity and to recruit spies for intelligence operations.

Shafut tried to set up a factory in Jordan to employ Shi’ite workers who would anchor future Iranian activity in Israel and the West Bank, the Shin Bet said. It is alleged his Iranian handlers expressed a willingness to invest $500,000 and Shafut was expected to travel to Iran to complete his training as an agent and undergo advanced training in intelligence and espionage but was arrested before this could happen.

The Shin Bet said: “This incident is another example of Iran’s ongoing attempts to establish an infrastructure for operations against Israel, in a variety of ways and with the investment of considerable energy and resources.”