An Israeli man has been arrested on suspicion of being involved in a plot to assassinate the prime minister. benjamin netanyahu or after being recruited by other senior officers Iran, Israel‘The Internal Security Service has given this information.
The suspect – who was arrested in August – is a 73-year-old businessman with ties to Turkey who was smuggled into Iran for two meetings to discuss the assassination of Mr Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Galant or Turkish President Vladimir Putin. Shin Bet A joint statement issued by the Israeli Police and Shin Bet alleged that the attack was carried out by the Israeli intelligence agency.
The allegations date back to April, when an Israeli man named Moti Maman agreed to meet a wealthy businessman living in Iran for business purposes.
The statement claims that after representatives told him that the Iranian businessman, identified only as Adi, could not leave Iran, the Israeli man was smuggled from eastern Turkey into Iran, where he met Adi and others, including a man identified as an Iranian security official, adding that it is unclear why Adi could not leave Iran.
The Iranians proposed that he perform tasks for Iran, including transferring money or guns, taking photographs of crowded places, or threatening other Israeli citizens working on Iran’s behalf who did not complete requested missions.
After returning to Israel, Mr. Maman was smuggled back into Iran in a vehicle in August. During this trip, Iranian officials asked him to carry out terrorist attacks for Iran and made proposals to assassinate Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Galant or Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, as well as other operations.
The Israeli man is alleged to have demanded a payment of $1 million before starting the work, but Iranian officials rejected the request and said they would stay in touch and pay him 5,000 euros to attend meetings.
Mr. Maman was indicted on Thursday. Mr. Maman’s lawyer, Eyal Besserglik, said his client had made an “error of judgment” and had been cooperating with Israeli intelligence agencies.
“It can already be said that this is a man who has greatly assisted the security services of the State of Israel, whose children serve in the security forces,” Mr. Besserglik said.
Shin Bet claimed that Iranian authorities viewed the plot as revenge. Assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyya Israel’s efforts have intensified since the attack in Tehran in July, for which Israel is widely blamed, which occurred a day earlier. Hezbollah Commander Fuad Shukr Killed in an Israeli attack in Beirut.
Shin Bet claimed the latest arrests showed Iran was making efforts to recruit Israelis to gather intelligence in Israel and carry out terrorist missions, including through the use of individuals with criminal backgrounds.
The allegations of an assassination plot come just days after the Shin Bet revealed that Hezbollah had plotted to assassinate a former senior defense official, later identified as former army chief and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon.
Mr. Gallant announces his country was entering a new phase of the war On Wednesday, Israel’s northern border suffered a second attack in two days on Hezbollah, which led to the explosion of thousands of walkie-talkies and pagers used by the group.
At least 20 people were killed and 450 injured in Wednesday’s blasts, Lebanon’s health ministry said, a day after rocket explosions at a Lebanese hospital killed 12 people and injured nearly 3,000. Unprecedented attack Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the incident.
Israel has not commented directly on these attacks, but many security sources have said that Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad is responsible for this.
Additional reporting by Reuters
