Jerusalem, 26 October, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment on Sunday against three Turkish citizens accused of attempting to smuggle firearms into Israel from Iran.
The indictment, filed in the Nazareth District Court, outlines a multi-year scheme by Rahman Gokair, Yunus Ozal, and Oktay Asci involving illegal entry, weapons smuggling, and coordination with foreign arms dealers.
Asci and Gokair were arrested after infiltrating Israel near Kibbutz Shaar HaGolan from Jordan in September. Asci was also charged with providing means for terrorist purposes. Ozal was already in Israel at the time.
According to the indictment, “In September 2025, the defendants Rahman (Gokair) and Oktay (Asci) agreed with others to infiltrate Israel through Jordan. They flew from Turkey to Saudi Arabia, and from there to Jordan, and agreed to smuggle three pistols. Following a dispute, the pistols were not imported.” Ultimately, they entered Israel without the weapons.
Asci had spent nearly two and a half years in Israel without a work visa, entering in early 2023 and being deported in July 2025. Before his deportation, he proposed that Gokair join a gun smuggling network working with an Iranian arms dealer. “The plan was to transport the guns to Jordan and smuggle them into Israel using workers crossing the border. Gokair was supposed to receive the guns and transfer them to other parties, and collect the money from the transactions. For his role in the smuggling network, Gokair was promised a payment of $1 million.”
While in Israel, Asci collected a package containing a firearm near his Bat Yam apartment, buried it in sand, later hid it at home, and eventually handed it to an unidentified individual. After his deportation, he continued directing smuggling operations remotely, instructing Ozal to meet a contact in Tel Aviv to complete a weapons deal. Ozal reportedly appeared twice at the central station with money in hand, but the expected delivery never arrived.
Despite the failed transaction, Ozal retained NIS 5,000 ($1,500) from the funds he had brought.
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