Israel Recruits Rabbis to Combat Iranian Espionage Campaign

Israeli security officials, including the Shin Bet and Israel Police, have launched a public awareness campaign to counter an Iranian intelligence operation targeting Israeli civilians for recruitment. Since October 2023, Iranian agents have used Telegram, SMS, and decentralized social media networks to identify individuals facing financial hardship, offering money for tasks that escalate from simple photography to intelligence gathering on critical infrastructure, photographing military bases, and planning assassinations of senior officials.

Israeli prosecutors have secured over 60 indictments against a diverse group of recruits, including active-duty soldiers, reservists, immigrants, and members of the ultra-Orthodox Haredi community. Notable arrests include a U.S. citizen at a Jerusalem seminary and a 22-year-old man in Haifa arrested for manufacturing explosives. To address the threat, the Israel Prisons Service established a dedicated wing at Damon Prison near Haifa specifically for those charged in Iran-linked espionage cases.

Because at least nine defendants are from the Haredi community—whose motivations were reportedly financial rather than ideological—the government has partnered with influential rabbis and social media figures. Rabbi Yigal Cohen, a member of the chief rabbinical council, has released videos and Yiddish-language appeals warning followers that betraying their people is a desecration and a blasphemy.