By Benjamin Brown • 30 March, 2020
A 25-year-old Israeli woman has been charged with spying for the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorist organization, according to the Central District Attorney’s office
The state attorney had charged the woman with having contact with a foreign agent, passing information to the enemy with the intention of harming state security and providing services to a terror organization.
According to the indictment, in 2018, the defendant was allegedly contacted by a resident of Southern Lebanon, known only as Ali. After a brief spell of contact, the Israeli woman began carrying out tasks for the Hezbollah agent, providing the terror group with photographs of military vehicles, the fence on the border with Lebanon, barracks and several sites including the Bahai Gardens, the Haifa port and a monastery, also in Haifa.
She was additionally asked to take photos of the Rambam Hospital in the coastal city, with a friend providing images of the entrance, emergency rooms and operating theatres as the defendant was in a different city at the time.
Communicating via Facebook, the 25-year-old also provided her Hezbollah handler with photos of an Iron Dome system near Be’er Sheva, a map of the town, and the Erez border crossing with the Gaza Strip.
In December 2019, the defendant was allegedly asked to attend a lecture by a journalist on the issue of Hezbollah and Israel. The Hezbollah agent had requested the woman to ask the speaker whether there was a chance of war between Hezbollah and Israel and send him a recording of the answer.
“It can be assumed that there is a reasonable basis to worry that the defendant will endanger the public security… due to the severity, character, and nature of her actions, which are based on identifying with a terror organization known for its unusual violence and cruelty, there is a reasonable basis for concern that she will endanger the security of the public and the security of the State,” the state attorney wrote in the woman’s arrest warrant, adding that the prosecution believed the defendant to be fully aware of Ali’s connection to Hezbollah.
The state attorney further stated that there was reason to believe the woman would attempt to pervert the course of justice as she had previously deleted her messages to Ali after being exposed by Israel’s Security Agency (commonly known as the Shin Bet) and Israeli police.
Hezbollah is an Iran-backed terrorist organization based in Lebanon. It has been designated a terror organization by Israel, Germany, the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Japan, the Arab League, and the Gulf Cooperation Council.