The State Prosecutor's Office today (Wednesday) filed indictments against six Israeli citizens and one resident of East Jerusalem for serious security offenses, including aiding the enemy in war and providing information to the enemy, after being directed by Iran to assassinate an Israeli nuclear scientist.
The defendants are Rami Aliyan, Abdul Rahman Aliyan, Mohammed Khateeb, Mamdouh Khader, Omar Abu Hamdiya, Mahmoud Khader and Mohammed Taha, aged 19 to 23, from the Beit Safafa neighborhood of Jerusalem. They were arrested last month and interrogated by the Jerusalem District Police.
According to the indictment, the Iranian handler provided the exact details of the nuclear scientist and even ordered Alian, the main suspect in the case, to assassinate his family members and burn down their home. The handler also ordered Alian to photograph the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot and Alian used some of the other defendants to carry out the mission.
"Having encountered the security post at the Weizmann Institute, they photographed only the entrance. In order to carry out the assassination mission, Aliyan purchased a weapon for the purpose, but before completing his plan he was arrested," the indictment read.
In addition, "after some of the defendants were arrested and Alian learned of their arrest, he fled his home, broke the operational device and threw its fragments into an open area in order that they not be located. According to suspicion, Alian, 23, is the one who recruited the six others after an Iranian element contacted him."
It was further noted that Alian admitted in his interrogation that he knew the operator was Iranian and even added that the approach from an Iranian source made him feel proud. The seven suspects received money in exchange for their actions, and claimed that they did so out of nationalistic motives.
Yesterday, it was cleared for publication that seven Arabs aged 19 to 23, residents of Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem, were arrested on suspicion of planning to assassinate a nuclear scientist and a mayor in the center of the country.
The investigation revealed that an Iranian agent contacted Ramy Alian, the main suspect, and offered him payment in exchange for carrying out missions.
Aliyan recruited six accomplices from his vicinity to carry out the missions, which included arson of vehicles in Ein Kerem, graffiti spraying and the lobbing of a grenade at the home of a security forces member. Ultimately, the target was a soldier known to the suspects, who resided in a nearby neighborhood.
The cell members were instructed to purchase weapons and grenades. The main mission that the Iranian assigned them included gathering intelligence on one of the mayors of a central city, as well as assassinating a senior nuclear expert. They prepared the required intelligence and contacted contacts for the purchase of weapons, but were arrested before they were able to complete their plans.
The investigation revealed that the youths received various payments for various tasks, including: 500 shekels for photographing various locations, including the Weizmann Institute. 1,500 shekels for photographing a specific target. 2,000 shekels for burning a car. 100 dollars for spraying graffiti against the state, and "Bring back the abductees now." Between 13,000 and 15,000 shekels were allocated for the purchase of a pistol and and improvised submachine gun.
This is the second case of espionage to be revealed in the past day. Yesterday it was revealed that seven non-Arab suspects, residents of Haifa and the north, including a deserter and two minors, were suspected of being operated by Iranian agents and carrying out various missions for their handlers.
Among other things, they are suspected of photographing and collecting information on IDF bases and installations, including the air force bases at Nevatim and Ramat David, the Kirya base in Tel Aviv, sites of Iron Dome batteries and other sites. They also received maps of strategic sites, including a Golani base.
The suspects are Aziz Nisanov, Alexander Sadikov, Yigal Nisan, Vichislav Gushchin, Yevgeny Yofa and two minors whose names cannot be published. On Friday, the prosecution is expected to file an indictment against them in the Haifa District Court on a series of serious security offenses.
The State Attorney's Office emphasizes that this is one of the most serious cases investigated in recent years. The case has been closely tracked for several weeks by the head of the security team in the Haifa District, Adv. Shelly Barzilai-Zavi and Adv. Einav Itzko Gold, as well as the Deputy Attorney General for Special Positions, Alon Altman.
According to the facts that can be disclosed at this time, the police and ISA investigation has revealed that for over two years, the suspects carried out a series of different tasks for a network of Iranian intelligence operatives, which was engaged in recruiting Israeli citizens, and this was under the direction of two Iranian agents with whom they were in contact.
A senior ISA official said that "according to the information that was gathered by security forces, scientists and mayors, as well as senior security officials and other Israeli officials, are targets for harm by Iranian elements."
"This investigation once again exposes the efforts of Iran to recruit and exploit Israeli citizens and residents, including East Jerusalem residents, for the purpose of promoting terrorist activity in Israel. The security apparatuses of the State of Israel, including the ISA and the Israel Police, will continue to cooperate and make efforts to locate Iranian activity and will act to severely prosecute all those involved in such activity."
The Jerusalem District Police and the ISA continue to focus and concentrate their efforts against terror and terrorists at all times and in all places, and to work to safeguard the security of the citizens of Israel. Recently, an indictment was filed at the conclusion of a joint investigation by the ISA and the Jerusalem District Police, against a terrorist resident of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, who planned, among other things, an attack against participants in the protest of the families of the abductees in Tel Aviv.
In addition, during the past year, the police and ISA prevented dozens of terrorist attacks and terrorist intentions in the Jerusalem area, in a variety of formats, both due to activity in the intelligence and investigative realm and due to the alertness, professionalism and quick response of the police officers of the Jerusalem District and the Border Police patrolling various areas.