Two Israelis arrested in Iranian assassination plot
Two Israelis were arrested for their involvement in an Iranian plot to assassinate a high-profile Israeli figure, it was cleared for publication on Monday.
Headquarters of the Lahav 433 Israel police department tasked with investigating national crimes and corruption on Dec. 20, 2016. Photo by Israel Blizovski/TPS
The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and the Israeli Police identified the lead suspect as Vladislav Victorson, in his 30s from Ramat Gan, who is accused of planning to kill an Israeli figure, throw a grenade at his house, and was working to acquire sniper rifles, pistols and grenades.
According to the Shin Bet, Victorson first came into contact with the agent operating on social media under the name, “Mari Hossi” in August. Under the agent’s guidance, and knowing the agent was Iranian, Victorson carried out various tasks such as spraying graffiti, hanging banners, burying money and burning vehicles in the area of Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park.
The tasks escalated, with Victorson being instructed to sabotage communication infrastructures and ATMs, and to set fire to forests. For some of the tasks, he was paid $5,000.
To carry out the tasks, Victorson recruited two other Israeli nationals, one of whom was identified as 18-year-old Anna Bernstein, also of Ramat Gan.
Victorson was also instructed to recruit street scouts to carry out additional tasks and photograph demonstrators during protests.
During the investigation, the Shin Bet was able to discover and monitor the activities of other fictitious Iranian social media profiles.
The Shin Bet added that other Israelis receiving suspicious inquiries on various social media platforms in different languages did not respond to them and instead reported them to security authorities.
“This investigation reveals, once again, the efforts of the Iranian intelligence agencies to recruit and exploit Israeli citizens in order to promote espionage and terrorist activity in Israel,” the Shin Bet said.
