Why Do Israelis Spy for Iran?

In recent months, several Israeli settlers, mostly Jews, were arrested for spying on behalf of Iran and enlisting to carry out security operations, including attempts to assassinate political, security officials, and scientists. These arrests have raised questions about what could drive Israelis to “betray their country in a time of war” and collaborate with their fiercest enemy, a security breach with punishments ranging from life imprisonment to the death penalty. According to an investigative report by “Ynet+”, the main driver for these individuals’ collaboration with the Iranians was not solely money.

One of the most notable cases involved Israeli businessman Moti Maman, whose indictment reveals that he traveled to Iran twice, met with Iranian intelligence agents, and discussed carrying out security operations in Israel, including assassinating Israeli leadership figures. Maman’s motive was initially money, exacerbated by his debts; he owned hotel cabins and rental warehouses in “Bustan HaGalil.”

Regarding his first meeting with his Iranian recruiter, Maman’s lawyer, Eyal Besserglick, stated, “Maman initially believed it was a business meeting, but there, in enemy territory… Nonetheless, he did not want to miss the opportunity, so he agreed to listen to the proposal.” The Iranians offered him some simple tasks like “dead drops” of placing money and weapons at specific points for a third party to pick up, photographing locations with large gatherings, and threatening “Israeli Arabs,” to which Maman responded that he would consider the matter. Although he returned to Israel with his wife, he did not report his activities or his travel to an enemy state because he “had previously assisted Mossad officials, and when he needed their support, they disowned him, causing him to lose trust in them.” Months later, Maman re-entered Iran in the same manner, meeting his handler and other Iranians, who offered him a more complex mission, “assassinating Israeli figures, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

However, Maman is not alone; in recent months, seven different cases have been revealed, involving 20 Israelis arrested so far, 14 of whom are charged with the most serious offense of aiding the enemy in wartime. While some detainees were motivated by money, others were driven by ego, and a third group by ideology, a fourth group gradually slid into these activities, as explained by Ilan Diamant, a psychologist specializing in security issues. Maor Goren, a police supervisor and head of department at Unit “Lahav 433,” noted that some were also motivated by a “lack of belonging to Israel.” According to Diamant, money was a significant factor in Maman’s motives; when he reached Iran for the second time, he was greeted by “Eddie” and “Haji” on the other side of the border. The former told him that two intelligence officers from Tehran would come with an “open check” for a retaliatory operation following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was martyred in Iran. Agreeing to discuss the tasks, Maman set a condition for any operation: an advance of one million dollars. In contrast, the agents spoke about smaller amounts—several hundred thousand dollars—suggesting targeting Netanyahu, the head of “Shabak” Ronen Bar, or Minister of Security Yoav Gallant, but Maman stated that there was an extremely high level of security around these figures at this stage. One of them asked, “Do you know what’s in Ra’anana?” referring to the home of former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, to which he replied that the latter was a former official, so his security measures might be less stringent. The discussions continued until the evening, but Maman did not budge from the one million dollars, and the meeting ended without agreement.

Money was also the main motive for Vladimir Freihovsky (35), a Jewish-Ukrainian who immigrated to Israel eight years ago and was financially struggling. According to the indictment, when “Eli” contacted him via Telegram, he was greatly tempted to perform tasks in exchange for cryptocurrency. The case began with him spraying graffiti in Tel Aviv, including “Netanyahu = Hitler,” then photographing participants in demonstrations in Tel Aviv to recruit them. When the Iranian side saw that Freihovsky was cooperative, they asked for more from him; he received an offer to kill an Israeli scientist for one hundred thousand dollars and smuggle him to Russia. Indeed, Freihovsky reached the address given to him by the Iranians in Tel Aviv and began searching for the scientist, even knocking on his door and asking people in the neighborhood about him, but he could not find him.

Meanwhile, the Iranians formed several networks, including cells to trace the scientist and gather other intelligence information. According to Goren, “Each of these cells operated independently, but sometimes their tasks intersected or complemented each other, as they would request one cell to deliver equipment or materials to another cell.” In Freihovsky’s case, he was told to pick up a weapon from an open area near Modi’in and wait for further orders. Indeed, he took a taxi, arrived in Modi’in, and asked the driver to wait a few minutes. When he returned, he was carrying a bag containing a pistol, magazines, and 15 bullets. When he arrived home, Shabak agents arrested him.

The case of Elmelikh Stern (22) from Beit Shemesh was entirely different; Stern is a Hasidic Haredi, and his personality is far from the world of espionage. According to the indictment, it started with him hanging posters in the streets, with the slogan: “Let’s stand on the right side of history,” and a blood-stained hand. After he passed this stage without knowing that his operator was Iranian, he was tasked with a bigger mission: “Setting fire to a forest near Jerusalem.” Stern then wrote to his friend Jonathan, who had hung the posters on his behalf, saying, “They promoted me to a regular member. I am talking directly to my boss.” He added, “I can’t understand why they want me to do this.” Jonathan replied, “Because they are anti-Israel. You know that.” Afterward, he refrained from burning the forest.

Another motive is ideology, which is the easiest of the motives for convincing recruits. This applies to the cell that Shabak stopped in Beit Safafa, which included seven Jerusalemites who performed tasks including hanging posters, burning a car, and also attempting to assassinate an Israeli nuclear scientist from the Weizmann Institute, but Shabak arrested them before they could carry out the assassination. However, the lack of ideology (or belonging) could also be a reason for recruiting agents, and this seems to be the case that helped the Iranians recruit the most important network of all, which includes seven residents of Haifa and Nof HaGalil, all Jews, who carried out more than 600 tasks in the heart of Israel, and the operators provided them with communication tools that are hard to detect, enabling them to photograph infrastructure, bases, and sensitive locations that were struck in an Iranian attack. They were even sent to sites that had been bombed to assess the damage at Israeli Air Force bases.

This network was headed by Aziz Nisnov (43), from Haifa, who immigrated to Israel from Azerbaijan in the 1990s. He worked in unloading containers at the port before the company closed two years ago, facing significant financial difficulties that led him to contact a friend living in Azerbaijan. According to the investigations, the latter connected him with a person named Ilhan Agayev, who had relations with Iran and could help him get money in exchange for certain tasks.

The seven agents knew they were working for Iran, approached all sensitive areas and bases, bought all the means to help them carry out their tasks, including phones, laptops, and a Jeep that helped them reach rough terrains and heights overlooking military bases to provide the Iranians with precise coordinates. During their work, they even volunteered to photograph things that were not required. For example, while they were on a tour, they saw a “Sky Balloon” spy balloon, photographed it, and sent it to their operators without knowing exactly what the balloon was that Hezbollah had destroyed in May last year.