The Beersheva District Court on Tuesday sentenced Moti Maman, a 73-year-old Ashdod resident, to 10 years in prison for collaborating with Iranian intelligence and discussing plans to assassinate Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli leaders.

Maman, convicted in December of contact with a foreign agent and unauthorized entry into an enemy state, traveled twice into Iran, where he met with Iranian security officials and plotted attacks targeting Netanyahu, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.

Judge Benny Sagi, president of the court, said the sentence was intended to send a warning. “The punishment must reflect a significant element of deterrence and convey a clear and distinct message regarding the severe price of maintaining illicit and unlawful ties with Israel’s enemies,” Sagi wrote in the verdict.

The court emphasized the context: Maman’s offenses were committed amid an ongoing war against Hamas, a terror group backed by Iran, and at a time when Israel was under assault on multiple fronts — from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

Despite expressing regret and admitting to the charges, Maman’s persistence in meeting Iranian officials for a second time, knowing the nature of the discussions, showed a “willing and dangerous commitment” to the relationship, the court said.

Prosecutors had sought a 12-year sentence, while Maman’s defense attorney, Eyal Besserglick, blasted the 10-year term as “completely disproportionate” and vowed to appeal. Besserglick argued that other Israelis awaiting trial for Iranian-linked espionage had engaged in even more serious acts, making Maman’s punishment unjustly severe.

Maman’s arrest last August, only disclosed a month later, marked one of the first visible cracks in an alarming wave of Iranian recruitment efforts targeting ordinary Israelis.

According to investigators, Maman — a businessman with long-standing ties in Turkey — was lured into Iran under the pretense of business opportunities. In May 2024, he was smuggled across the Turkish-Iranian border inside a truck and introduced to Iranian operatives who quickly pivoted discussions toward espionage and assassination.

The Shin Bet revealed that Iranian agents proposed various missions: planting weapons and cash at designated locations in Israel, photographing crowded public areas, intimidating Israeli operatives working for Iran, and even plotting to murder Israeli leaders as revenge for the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Maman was also asked to help locate Russians or Americans willing to assassinate Iranian dissidents abroad and to attempt recruiting a Mossad double agent. Maman reportedly demanded a $1 million advance, but ultimately received just 5,000 euros before returning to Israel, where he was promptly arrested.

The case is part of a broader, disturbing pattern. In just the past year, dozens of Israelis have been arrested — including IDF reservists and civilians — for alleged spying, intelligence gathering, and planning attacks under Iranian direction.

Israeli authorities have issued repeated warnings to citizens about the dangers of contact with foreign agents, promising aggressive prosecution against anyone who conspires with enemy states.

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