Bat Yam Mayor Tzvika Brot issued an unusual message to city residents on Tuesday evening after receiving a warning from the Shin Bet about ongoing attempts by Iranian intelligence operatives to recruit Israeli citizens.
According to Brot, since the outbreak of the war there have been numerous cases of approaches via social media and text messages aimed at luring citizens into cooperating. “The Iranians have reached Bat Yam - and this is not a joke - so listen until the end,” Brot opened his message.
He noted that in recent weeks the city has been in continuous contact with security officials, particularly the Shin Bet, due to concerns that residents might respond to suspicious approaches.
“We’ve been hearing recently in the media about completely normative people - even reservists, outstanding students, pensioners - who thought they could make easy money, maybe do things they believed wouldn’t cause any harm. Later they were persuaded to do other things, like transferring a package from place to place,” Brot said.
“As of right now, we know that there are also Bat Yam residents who are, these very days, maintaining such contacts. These are extremely serious offenses, and anyone arrested by the Shin Bet will cause himself irreversible harm. Our goal at the moment is to prevent them from making that mistake,” he emphasized.
In his message, Brot addressed residents directly and urged them to report immediately if they had responded to any suspicious approach or had communicated with hostile entities.
“If you, your relatives, or friends have already responded to one of these approaches, held conversations with the Iranians, or perhaps even carried out various tasks - don’t wait until there’s a knock on your door. It’s probably not too late to come to us, and together with the security authorities we can try to turn things around.”
Brot added that the city currently has “a few dozen people” who may be involved, stressing that these individuals come from all segments of the population. He called on residents to contact any municipal authority - his office, the municipal hotline, the city’s security officer, or school administration in the case of students - to provide information that could prevent harm.
In conclusion, Brot noted that the city is in a sensitive security period and that efforts to strengthen preparedness are ongoing.
“We are doing everything to be ready for what lies ahead - but we need your assistance to ensure that our enemies do not receive help from within, even unintentionally,” he said.