Israeli citizen sentenced over US secrets plot

An Israeli citizen has been sentenced in the US after pleading guilty to conspiring to steal a trade secret from an Arizona-based semiconductor technology company, in a case that adds to long-standing practice of Israeli-linked espionage.

Guy Galanti, 48, an Israeli citizen who lived in Scottsdale, Arizona, received a sentence of time served and three years of supervised release from US District Judge G. Murray Snow, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced on Tuesday. Galanti had remained in custody since his arrest in September 2025 and pleaded guilty on 26 May, 2026, to conspiring to steal a trade secret.

According to prosecutors, Galanti worked as a senior-level manager for Green Technology Investments (GTI), a Scottsdale company that services semiconductor testing machines and sells remanufactured machines with newly designed functions.

The Justice Department said Galanti conspired between January and August 2025 with another individual to steal GTI’s newly created “Glass Detect Design”, a proprietary system intended to allow a semiconductor testing machine to detect microscopic defects on glass semiconductor wafers rather than silicon ones. His alleged co-conspirator operated a Taiwanese company that competed directly with GTI.

US prosecutors said Galanti secretly sent photographs, information and software connected to GTI’s design over several months in an effort to help recreate the proprietary system. To conceal the scheme, Galanti and his co-conspirator used encrypted messaging, deleted emails and transaction data from Galanti’s work account and created fictitious invoices to document the transfer and possible payment of funds.

The FBI’s Phoenix Division investigated the case, while Assistant US Attorneys Raymond K Woo and Matthew Williams handled the prosecution.

Although the case does not allege Israeli state involvement, it has revived attention on a broader history of Israeli espionage and covert influence operations involving allied countries, including the US and France.

Read: Jonathan Pollard’s release shows that Israel is unrepentant about spying on its allies

The most notorious case remains that of Jonathan Pollard, the former US Navy intelligence analyst convicted of spying for Israel. Israel welcomed Pollard in 2020 as a national hero after he moved to Tel Aviv, with then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeting him on arrival and presenting him with an Israeli identity card.

Israel’s intelligence activity has also strained ties with France. In 2017, Mossad allegedly tried to turn French spies into double agents during a joint operation in Syria, using a cooperative intelligence mission to cultivate sources inside French services.

Paris has been described as a hub for Mossad activity, with French intelligence sources reportedly warning that Israeli operatives had used the city as a base for international operations, including planning connected to the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in Dubai.

Lat month French authorities were investigating whether an Israeli company, BlackCore, played a role in a foreign interference campaign targeting La France Insoumise (LFI) candidates ahead of March local elections. The report said French intelligence services were examining who may have hired the company to run a smear campaign through deceptive websites and social media accounts.

The allegations followed similar concerns elsewhere. Colombian President Gustavo Petro alleged Israeli interference in Colombia’s election, demanding an audit and recount after claiming that Israeli-linked actors had sought to influence the vote.