27-year-old Israeli arrested for providing intelligence to Iran, abusing girlfriend’s access to military base

Israel Police filed an indictment on Sunday in the Haifa District Court against an Israeli citizen on charges of spying for Iran, including the passing of sensitive information on military facilities. 

Shimon Azarzar, a 27-year-old resident of Kiryat Yam, was originally arrested in October, along with his girlfriend, charged with providing classified information to Iran, contact with a foreign agent, and obstruction of justice. 

According to the indictment, Azarzar contacted Iranian agents on the Telegram social media network, through which he provided his handlers with photos, locations, and details about sensitive sites in Israel. 

Azarzar was in contact with with his Iranian handlers for over a year, primarily through Telegram and other secure messaging platforms, through which he also received instructions for assignments. 

Azarzar is also accused of taking advantage of his girlfriend’s reserve duty at an air force base, accessing her personal cloud account to retrieve photos from the base, classified documents, and records from the Ramat David air base where she was stationed, photos of control rooms, operational control systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, and encrypted communication data, some of which was transferred to Iranian officials. 

The defendant even passed on personal information of an Israel Police officer, as well as offering to carry out additional espionage missions. In return for his work, Azarzar received payments for missions and intelligence in cryptocurrency. 

According to Israel Police, Azarzar was even considering moving to Iran after completing his work for the Iranian government. 

The prosecution has asked for Azarzar to be detained until all legal proceedings are completed, believing him to be a flight risk. His arrest makes the 31st arrest on charges of spying for Iran since the start of the Gaza War. 

Several days before Azarzar’s arrest, a resident of Tel Aviv was also arrested, and charged with initiating contact with Iranian agents via secure messaging apps, carrying out photography and surveillance tasks for them in exchange for money. 

According to a report about the investigation, the Iranians instructed the suspect to document the Tel Aviv Museum, the Abramovich Garden in the Bavli neighborhood, and the site of a missile impact on Jabotinsky Street in Ramat Gan during the Israel-Iran war. This suspect, whose name was not released, also received payment for his intelligence collection activities through cryptocurrency networks. 

During his arrest, police found 18 SIM cards and other digital records of his communication accounts, used for transferring information to his Iranian handlers. 

“During a period when Israel was at war, the defendant maintained contacts with Iranian elements and transferred sensitive information that was transferred with the intention of harming national security in exchange for a monetary payment,” the state attorney said. 

“The Israel Security Agency [Shin Bet] and Israel Police once again warn Israeli citizens and residents against maintaining any contact with foreign elements from enemy states or unidentified sources, and certainly against performing missions for them in exchange for money or for any other reason,” the two agencies said in a statement. “Israel’s security bodies will continue to identify and thwart terror and espionage activity in Israel, and will work to bring all those involved to justice.”