By Pesach Benson • March 24, 2026
Jerusalem, 24 March, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Two Israeli men from the Jerusalem area have been Indicted for espionage after passing information to an Iranian agent in exchange for money, it was cleared for publication on Tuesday.
The men are Accused of providing a range of sensitive information, including content that could potentially compromise national security. According to the indictment, they also used artificial intelligence to create false identities and documents. Although not all the data was accurate, the police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) said it still could have been exploited by Iranian intelligence.
The Jerusalem District Court lifted a gag order on the case on Tuesday.
The case began in 2025 when one of the defendants initiated contact with an Iranian intelligence operative through the Telegram messaging app. He agreed to perform tasks for the foreign agent in exchange for digital currency payments. Later, the suspect brought the second defendant into the operation, and the two allegedly continued working together.
The two were arrested in January 2026 following a months-long investigation into their activities.
According to the indictment, among the materials the defendants sent was an AI-generated image showing a soldier purportedly in the army’s elite cyber operations Unit 8200 making a specific hand gesture. To “prove” the soldier’s membership in the unit, the defendants gave the Iranian agent a forged document.
The indictment also says that when the handler asked the suspects if Israel had a role in the 2024 helicopter crash that killed Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, the suspects provided an AI-generated document claiming Israeli involvement.
In exchange, the suspects were paid NIS 100,000 ($32,000) in digital currency.
According to the indictment, the suspects knew the person they were in contact with was an Iranian agent.
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