Israel security forces announced Thursday that they had thwarted an attempt Iranian intelligence to form a spy network in Israel.
A Jordanian businessman was recruited by Tehran to form the network in Israel and the West Bank, said the Shin Bet security service, according to Israeli media.
Thaer Shafut, 32, was sent into the West Bank last year “on behalf of Iranian intelligence to carry out missions that were meant to establish a network in Israel and the West Bank, which would be used for covert operations for the Iranians,” the Shin Bet said
According to the security service, Shafut entered Israeli territory in July-August 2018 after receiving instructions from two Arabic-speaking Iranian operatives in Lebanon and Syria, who identified themselves as Abu Sadek and Abu Jaafar. These meetings allegedly continued through 2018 and 2019.
Shafut was told to establish business ties in Israel and the West Bank in order to form a base of operations for Iranian intelligence’s future actions, the Shin Bet said.
He was instructed to “recruit spies who would help collect intelligence for Iranian interests,” the security service said.
According to the Shin Bet, Shafut was also seen by the Iranians as a means to funnel money to terrorist operatives in the West Bank and Israel.
Shafut was arrested in the city of Hebron in April, though this was kept gagged under the military censor until Thursday.
He was indicted on June 10 in a West Bank military court on charges of contacting a foreign agent, contacting an enemy organization and attempting to bring enemy funds into the region.
According to the Shin Bet, Shafut maintained contact with his Iranian operatives using an encrypted communication device.
Upon establishing the basis for the spy network in the West Bank and Israel, he was “expected to travel to Iran in order to complete his training as an agent and to undergo advanced training in spycraft and intelligence,” the security service said.
As part of his efforts to establish business ties with Israelis and Palestinians, Shafut planned to open a factory in Jordan that would employ Shiites to act as “an anchor for future Iranian activities in Israel and the West Bank,” according to the Shin Bet.
The security service said Shafut’s Iranian operators, Abu Sadek and Abu Jaafar, told him they were prepared to invest up to half a million dollars in these businesses for a start “and with lots more money in the future as necessary in order to establish this base of operations.”
Just before his arrest, Shafut began making contact with people inside the West Bank with the goal of establishing this spy network, the Shin Bet said.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry announced that it was following the issue through diplomatic channels.
