Israeli arrested on charges of ‘committing crimes for a foreign entity’

Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency yesterday announced the arrest of an Israeli citizen accused of committing crimes on behalf of foreign entities, with the “foreign entity” in question believed to be Iran, according to Army Radio.

In a statement the security agencies said 29-year-old Alexander Granovsky, a resident of Petah Tikva, has been arrested on charges of committing security crimes for foreign entities.

The statement added that the crimes included setting vehicles on fire, photographing sensitive sites and sharing information about Israeli officials in exchange for money.

It added: “Since November, Alexander has been in contact with terrorist elements outside Israel and has carried out numerous security-related tasks for them, fully aware of their capacity to harm Israel’s security – all motivated by greed for financial gain.”

The statement further noted: “Among his actions were setting fire to eight vehicles on various occasions across Israel, writing slogans, photographing infrastructure facilities in central Israel, and taking a photo of the entrance to the residence of former Knesset member and Defence Minister Benny Gantz, which he sent to his handlers.”

The accused was also asked to gather and pass on information about the residential addresses of government ministers and to set fire to a police car, a bus and a truck. However, he refused to carry out these tasks.

The statement highlighted that the crimes were carried out for Iranian intelligence agents, with communication taking place through social media platforms. Payments were reportedly made using cryptocurrency.

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