The Department of Internal Police Investigations announced Wednesday evening that it has questioned a police officer serving in the elite Lahav 433 unit under caution, regarding serious suspicions of maintaining contact with an Iranian foreign agent.
The officer was detained on Tuesday for intensive questioning and, after a four-hour session, was released to house arrest under strict restrictive conditions.
The case began with a message the officer received via the Telegram app containing a job offer that appeared attractive to him. The officer entered into ongoing communications with the individual on the other end. He claims he did so without realizing that this was a sophisticated recruitment attempt by Iranian intelligence, believing instead that it was a legitimate business venture or an innocent job.
The turning point came when the Telegram contact asked the officer to go out into the field and film various sites across the country.
At this stage, the officer claimed during his interrogation, serious suspicions arose that he was dealing with a hostile entity acting on behalf of Iran. The officer proactively approached his superiors at Lahav 433 to report what was happening, and they instructed him to cut contact and immediately cease all communication with the individual.
Internal Affairs officials emphasize that despite the report, the incident itself occurred approximately six months ago, and only now was the decision made to detain the officer for a criminal investigation under caution to verify his account and determine whether security laws were breached. The sensitive investigation is ongoing.