Israel Appeals to Jewish Religious Leaders to Counter Islamic Republic Intelligence Recruitment Networks

As the number of espionage-related cases involving the Islamic Republic has increased, Israel has expanded its preventive measures and asked prominent Jewish religious leaders to warn about attempts by Iranian intelligence agencies to recruit Israeli citizens. This step comes as Israeli security officials report a surge in intelligence activities by the Islamic Republic following the Gaza war and direct confrontation between the two countries.

In response to the rise in cases related to what it describes as “recruitment of Israeli citizens by Islamic Republic intelligence agencies,” Israel has asked Jewish religious leaders to play a more active role in raising public awareness. This effort has been described as part of a broader Israeli government campaign to counter the Islamic Republic’s intelligence operations within the country.

According to a report by the New York Times, Israeli security officials have asked several prominent rabbis and respected leaders of Orthodox and Haredi Jewish communities to warn their followers about the dangers of unwitting cooperation with the Islamic Republic’s intelligence networks. This request came after an increase in cases in which Israeli citizens were detained on suspicion of intelligence cooperation with Iran.

Rabbi Igal Cohen, a member of the senior council of Jewish religious leaders, confirmed that Israeli security agencies asked him to participate in this campaign. In a video message to his followers, he said: “There is nothing worse than a believing Jew betraying his people by assisting the enemy’s objectives.”

Alongside him, other prominent figures from the Orthodox Jewish community, including Yisrael Cohen, a radio commentator and host, and Mendel Unger, a journalist, have also released warning messages. Some of these warnings have been published in Yiddish, a language still widely spoken among parts of Israel’s Haredi community and taught in the community’s religious schools.

According to Yisrael Cohen, the initial reports about the recruitment of some religious Jews by networks affiliated with the Islamic Republic shocked the Haredi community, but this very issue highlighted the necessity of widespread information dissemination to prevent such cases from recurring.

Isaac Yosef, the chief rabbi of Israel’s Mizrahi Jews, has also joined this campaign and asked his followers to be vigilant against any suspicious offers.

Israeli security officials believe that the Islamic Republic’s intelligence activities aimed at recruiting Israeli citizens have increased significantly following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, and particularly over the past two years, coinciding with the shift of Tehran-Tel Aviv confrontation from “shadow war” to direct conflict.

According to Israel’s police and domestic security agency (Shin Bet), Islamic Republic intelligence operatives typically contact individuals through social networks and messaging applications such as Telegram. Initially, they present themselves as employers and make cryptocurrency payments in exchange for performing simple and seemingly harmless missions. According to security officials, after gaining individuals’ trust, they are asked to carry out more sensitive missions.

Based on statements by Israeli police, the spectrum of individuals detained on suspicion of cooperation with the Islamic Republic includes both military and civilian personnel, Arab citizens, and immigrants. Among those detained are at least 9 young religious individuals. One of the most recent cases involves a 20-year-old American who went to Jerusalem to study at a Jewish religious seminary and was detained last month.

Israeli police stated that prosecutors have so far filed indictments in approximately 60 cases, although the number of individuals still under investigation remains unclear. Among the cases reviewed so far, final verdicts have been issued for only a few defendants. The latest case involved an Israeli soldier who was sentenced to five years in prison for sending images of certain facilities to operatives linked to the Islamic Republic.

Meanwhile, Israel’s prison service has also adopted special security measures for holding detainees in these cases. Reports indicate that these individuals are held in separate sections under strict restrictions, with their contact with other prisoners and the outside world minimized. One of these special sections has been established in Damun Prison, near Haifa.

In this regard, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s Minister of National Security, has ordered that defendants in these cases be treated like the most dangerous Hamas terrorists.

Although Israeli officials have not yet released details about the potential damage from these cases, they emphasize that the Islamic Republic’s efforts to penetrate Israeli intelligence represent a serious security threat and countering it is a priority for the country’s security agencies.