Three men, two from Tiberias and one from moshav Hamra, a settlement in the Jordan Valley, were indicted separately on Thursday for contact with Iranian agents and spying, the latest in a dozen such indictments since the Israel-Hamas War began on October 7, 2023.
Yoni Segal, 18, and Nehorai Mizrahi, 20, were indicted by the prosecution at the Nazareth District Court on Thursday for spying for the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the charges of contact with a foreign agent, espionage, and obstruction of justice.
They were arrested on the night between June 14 and 15, the Lahav 433 National Crime Unit announced on Monday, with aid from the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). The third man, Mark Morgan Pinsky, 33, was arrested on June 15 on separate yet similar suspicions.
Per the indictment, in May, Segal and Mizrahi initiated contact with Iranian agents through the Telegram app. The agents, the indictment shows, presented themselves as “Kaplanist leftists” (in reference to the protest movement), and asked the two to commit several acts, including writing the words “Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] is a dictator” on a piece of paper and burning it. They were paid in cryptocurrency.
The two provided information about malls in Netanya, Tel Aviv, and Haifa
After several such acts, the agents instructed the two to purchase “operational cell phones,” blur their identities, and commit more serious acts. They were instructed to photograph and provide information about several large shopping malls - in Netanya, Tel Aviv, and Haifa - as well as Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. The two provided detailed information about where the security guards were located and how many there were, where the security cameras were located, and what the entry points were.
After a while, the agents offered to fly the two out to Iran to train for an assassination hit on a senior public Israeli figure, for NIS 200,000 each. They agreed.
The agents also said they were interested in purchasing weapons and drones. Segal and Mizrahi presented themselves as people who had access to suppliers.
“Even though they understood very well that they were talking to Iranian agents, the defendants kept up the contact and even asked for more assignments,” reads the indictment.
It adds that one of them erased the messages on his phone to “obstruct evidence.”
The prosecution said, “At the very same time that Israel was fighting a war with Iran, the largest and most significant enemy of the Jewish State, these acts reflect nothing but complete contempt and mockery the defendants had to Israel's security and to public safety.”
Pinsky, indicted in the Beersheba District Court, was approached by an Iranian agent who identified himself as “Alex” on Telegram, offering him a pay of 2,000 shekels per day to carry out different assignments, at his instruction.
Pinsky agreed, even when he eventually understood that he would be carrying out acts for an Iranian agent. He said, “This isn't relevant.” The agent asked him to send a picture of his official identification card and a video confirmation, and paid him for that.
One day, Pinsky received immediate instructions to move a grenade in southern Israel from one location to another. He arrived at the given location, but didn't find the grenade. Just for going out to look for it, he received hundreds of dollars. The agent also funded equipment for Pinsky.
At one point, Pinsky initiated contact and asked if there were any assignments available. He said Pinsky could manage a team of agents, but Pinsky refused.
Eventually, a different agent approached Pinksy, identifying himself as “Ali,” Alex's boss, and explained that all communication will be with him from this point forward. =
Ali offered an “important” assignment, which included the use of weapons, training, and a face-to-face meeting. This never came about.
Ali also inquired if Pinsky had contacts that could aid with smuggling from the West Bank into Israel proper, both of Palestinians and of weapons, offering him 2,000 shekels. Pinsky didn't immediately refuse, and even approached a gun dealer on Telegram to inquire further, but this never progressed either.
On the afternoon of June 12, the day before the Iran attacks, Pinsky sent Ali a screenshot from a WhatsApp group chat he was in that warned of the impending aerial strikes, which took place just a few hours later. Pinsky asked if Ali had heard anything about it.
Around the time that the Rising Lion operation began, Pinsky sent Ali a supportive message, expressing sorrow for what was happening to the people of Iran.
Two instructions came next, both of which Pinsky did not carry out. The first was to purchase a grenade, for which he would be paid 2,000 shekels, while the second was to set fire to three cars, for which he would be paid 4,500 shekels.
During the operation itself, Pinsky was requested several times to document damage from missile hits, for 100 shekels per video. At one point, he sent a photo of a news broadcast and wrote, “It is not yet known where it fell, but it looks like Tel Aviv.” During a siren, Pinsky filmed falls and hits of missiles, for which he received $120.
The prosecution said, “The defendant carried out severe security crimes at a time when Israel was in the midst of the worst and most complicated war it's ever experienced, including against Iran. He was well-aware that the agents were enemies, yet continued to cooperate with them.” He was indicted for contact with a foreign agent, espionage, and possession of a dangerous drug in his home.