The Shin Bet on Thursday revealed that a Jewish-Israeli citizen was arrested in August 2024 for allegedly committing severe security offenses after being recruited by Iran to assassinate senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.

The suspect was twice smuggled into Iran and met with Iranian intelligence and security officials and received payments for carrying out missions.

The operation, carried out by the Shin Bet and the Lahav 443 unit of the Israel Police, revealed that the suspect, a 73-year-old businessman from Ashkelon named Moti Maman, had lived for an extended period in Turkey in the past and maintained business and social ties with Turks, some of Iranian descent.

Media reports said that the suspect was in debt for tens of thousands of shekels which led him to contact Turkish acquaintances in pursuit of business deals, a quest that ultimately led him to the agents who recruited him on behalf of Iran.

Army Radio reported that for several weeks, the suspect shuttled between Cyprus and Turkey, and at one point spent a few days with Turkish businessmen at a hotel near the Iranian border. During this time, in April 2024, an Iranian businessman spoke with him and tried to persuade him to trust him and come to Iran. In May, after being smuggled across the border from the eastern Turkish city of Van into Iran, he met with Iranian handlers at a luxurious villa and hotel close to the Turkish border.

During this meeting, the Iranian agents suggested various security missions within Israel for Iran, including transferring money or a gun to predetermined locations, photographing crowded places in the country and sending them to Iranian agents, and threatening Israeli Arabs operating in Israel on behalf of Iran who had not completed their missions. The Israeli suspect told the agents that he had connections in the underworld in Israel to convince them he could carry out the requested missions. He asked for a million dollars but the Iranians agreed to only $150,000. He agreed to look into the matter.

In August, the Israeli suspect entered Iran for the second time after being smuggled through the border crossing while hidden inside a truck. He met with additional Iranian intelligence operatives, one of whom spoke Hebrew, who asked him to carry out terrorist activities for Iran on Israeli soil, including carrying out assassination attempts against Netanyahu, Gallant, and Bar.

The suspect responded that these high-ranking officials are heavily protected and it would be difficult to harm them. The Iranian agents then asked him if he was familiar with the city of Ra’anana and suggested he target former prime minister Naftali Bennet with a bomb. They offered him $300,000-$400,000 for Bennett’s assassination but he refused, saying he would do it only for a million dollars.

The next day, the Israeli suspect held another meeting with Iranian intelligence officials during which they reiterated their proposal to assassinate senior figures, discussed the possibility of him hiding funds in safe locations in Israel for others, and spoke about locating Russian and American figures to eliminate opponents of the Iranian regime in Europe and the US while recruiting a Mossad operative to become a “double agent.”

Other figures mentioned as possible targets for assassination included the mayors of Nahariya or Akko, as the accused claimed he lived in Nahariya (which was a lie).

The Iranian agents told the defendant: “If you carry out the mission for us, you’ll prevent Iran from going to war against Israel as we will exact our revenge for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh.” The suspect again insisted on an advance of a million dollars but the Iranian agents refused his request and informed him they would contact him in the future. Before leaving Iran, he received 5,000 euros for his participation in the meetings.

A few days after the second meeting in Iran, the defendant flew from Turkey to Turkish Cyprus, then to Larnaca, and finally to Israel. As soon as he landed at Ben-Gurion Airport three weeks ago, he was arrested by the Shin Bet.

Channel 12 reported that in the course of his arrest, the defendant told the investigators: “It’s good you stopped me; I don’t know where this could have led to.” A source familiar with the details of the investigation said that throughout the interrogations, the defendant had opportunities to remain silent or deny the accusations but chose to make self-incriminating statements.

He tried to distance himself from any intent to follow through with the Iranian’s directives regarding an actual assassination but also told his interrogators: “I don’t know what would have happened or what I would have done if they had given me a million dollars; we are only human.”

The State Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment of severe security charges against the defendant at the Be’er Sheva District Court on Thursday at 11 a.m. During the hearing, it was revealed that the suspect has a criminal record with five convictions for extortion, threats, and tax offenses. His lawyer said: “His son serves in Gaza and another son in the north. It’s possible that his actions were criminal and not security-related.”

A senior official in the Shin Bet stated: “This is a very serious affair that exemplifies the immense efforts of Iranian intelligence to recruit Israeli citizens for the advancement of terrorist activities in Israel. Security officials estimate that Iran will continue its efforts to recruit operatives in Israel for intelligence gathering and executing terrorist missions, including approaching individuals with criminal backgrounds to fulfill these tasks.”

“While Israel is at war on multiple fronts, an Israeli citizen has, on two separate occasions, traveled to an enemy state, met with Iranian intelligence agents, and expressed a willingness to carry out serious terrorist acts on Israeli soil. His actions have aided Iran and its intelligence apparatus in their campaign against Israel.”

“It is important to emphasize that cooperation between Israelis and Iranian agents during wartime constitutes a serious security offense, even if the motive for the contact is criminal or business-related.

“The Shin Bet takes any interaction of Israelis with Iranian agents very seriously, asserting that the initial pretext of a business engagement or criminal platform does not lessen the severity of the actions and the inherent risks, not to mention collaborating with these entities.

“The Shin Bet, in cooperation with Israel Police and other security bodies will continue its efforts to monitor and thwart Iranian activities aimed at recruiting and activating Israeli operatives – while ensuring that the offenders face justice.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)