Two Israeli Air Force technicians under investigation for allegedly spying on behalf of Iran, with orders to monitor senior Israeli officials.
By World Israel News Staff
Two Israeli Air Force technicians were arrested recently amid suspicions they worked on behalf of Iranian intelligence, passing on sensitive information to the Iranian regime, Israel’s national broadcaster has reported.
The two technicians were serving at the IAF’s Tel Nof airbase before they were arrested.
Both suspects are expected to be charged with spying for Iran after allegedly passing sensitive military material during the war, according to a report by Kan.
The two suspects worked on F-15 fighter jets and are believed to have transmitted to their Iranian handlers engine-diagram documentation and photographs showing the face of a flight instructor, material that is barred from publication under Israeli military censorship rules.
Kan reported that the suspects will be charged with aiding the enemy in wartime, and that authorities are also weighing whether to upgrade the case against one of them to treason.
The broadcaster said the pair were also allegedly asked to collect information on former IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The case appears to be linked to an earlier arrest announced this week involving two young Israeli men accused of working for Iranian intelligence.
In that case, police and the Shin Bet said one suspect, 19-year-old Sagi Hayek from Ness Ziona, had been in contact with an Iranian agent for months, agreed to undergo training in an Arab country, and recruited 21-year-old Asaf Shitrit of Beit Oved to help carry out at least one assignment.
Kan said eight additional soldiers are suspected of knowing about the technicians’ actions and failing to report them.
After the incident, the Tel Nof base commander gathered troops for a security briefing and told them he had been summoned by the Shin Bet to clarify the affair, according to the report.
The allegations add to a growing stream of Iranian espionage cases inside Israel.
Earlier this month, it was reported that police were preparing a new unit focused specifically on Iran spying investigations after a series of arrests and indictments tied to Iranian recruitment efforts.
Reuters reported in December that Israeli authorities had arrested nearly 30 Jewish citizens over suspected espionage for Iran in what it described as Tehran’s biggest infiltration effort in decades.
