Current:Home > InvestIsrael says it foiled Iranian plot to target, spy on senior Israeli politicians -TradeGrid
Israel says it foiled Iranian plot to target, spy on senior Israeli politicians
View
Date:2025-04-16 05:55:23
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel arrested five Palestinians in a plot allegedly hatched in Iran to target and spy on senior Israeli politicians, including Israel’s far-right national security minister, the country’s internal security agency said Wednesday.
The Shin Bet security service alleged that an Iranian security official living in neighboring Jordan had recruited three Palestinian men in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and another two Palestinian citizens of Israel to gather intelligence about several high-profile Israeli politicians.
The targets included National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir — a firebrand Israeli settler leader who oversees the country’s police force in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultranationalist government — as well as Yehuda Glick, an American-born far-right Israeli activist and former member of parliament.
The plan was foiled by Israeli intelligence officials, the Shin Bet said, without offering evidence.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.
Ben-Gvir, who draws inspiration from a racist rabbi, has provoked outrage across the wider Middle East for his particularly hard-line policies against the Palestinians, anti-Arab rhetoric and stunts and frequent public visits to the holiest and most contested site in the Holy Land. The hilltop compound in Jerusalem, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is at the emotional center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Glick is a leader in a campaign that pushes for increased Jewish access and prayer rights at the sacred Jerusalem compound, the holiest site in Judaism home to ancient biblical Temples. Today, the compound houses the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. Since Israel captured the site in 1967, Jews have been allowed to visit but not pray there. Glick survived a 2014 Palestinian assassination attempt.
The Shin Bet did not elaborate on the identity of the Iranian official in Jordan who allegedly orchestrated the plot. He is not in custody and apparently remains at large.
But the Shin Bet accused three Palestinian men in the West Bank — identified as 47-year old Murad Kamamaja, 34-year-old Hassan Mujarimah and 45-year-old Ziad Shanti — of gathering intelligence and smuggling weapons into Israel. The security service also said that it charged two Palestinian citizens of Israel over their involvement in the plot. It did not specify how the men planned to target Ben-Gvir and the other politicians.
Ben-Gvir claimed that the Palestinian suspects had conspired to “assassinate a minister in Israel,” without clarifying whether he meant himself or another minister. He thanked Israeli security forces for uncovering and capturing what he called the “terrorist squad.”
Ben-Gvir, who has pushed for harsher treatment for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, also vowed to double down on his hard-line policies in response to the revelations. “I will continue to act fearlessly and even more vigorously for a fundamental change in the conditions of the terrorists’ imprisonment,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Israel has considered Iran to be its greatest enemy since it became a Shiite theocracy during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran is a main patron of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, which Israel considers the most potent military threat on its borders, and also backs Palestinian Islamist militant groups in the Gaza Strip.
veryGood! (7741)
Related
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Maryland judiciary seeks applications to replace slain judge
- A New UN “Roadmap” Lays Out a Global Vision for Food Security and Emissions Reductions
- Maryland judiciary seeks applications to replace slain judge
- Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
- Poor countries need trillions of dollars to go green. A long-shot effort aims to generate the cash
- China’s homegrown C919 aircraft arrives in Hong Kong in maiden flight outside the mainland
- Whitmer’s fight for abortion rights helped turn Michigan blue. She’s eyeing national impact now
- Federal Spending Freeze Could Have Widespread Impact on Environment, Emergency Management
- German prosecutors indict 27 people in connection with an alleged far-right coup plot
Ranking
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- How 'Bout a Round of Applause for Rihanna’s Pearl-Embellished Look
- How Zach Edey, Purdue men's hoops star, is overcoming immigration law to benefit from NIL
- At least $2.1 billion in new funds pledged at COP28, as foundations focus on health and agriculture
- Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
- Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs are wildly off mark in blaming NFL refs for Kadarius Toney penalty
- 3 Florida middle school students hospitalized after showing signs of possible overdose
- RHOBH's Sutton Stracke Breaks Silence on Julia Roberts' Viral Name 'Em Reenactment
Recommendation
Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
Climate activists struggle to be heard at this year's U.N. climate talks
Luna Luna: An art world amusement park is reborn
DoorDash, Uber Eats to move tipping prompt to after food is delivered in New York City
Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
Rare gold coins, worth $2,000, left as donations in Salvation Army red kettles nationwide
Suspect in fatal grocery store shooting leaves behind debit card, leading to his arrest
UN warns nearly 50 million people could face hunger next year in West and Central Africa