Image: from Jewish Breaking News X@JBreakingNews
By Benjamin Foster | Staff Writer with Agencies
An Israeli hotel employee has been charged with espionage for allegedly cooperating with Iranian intelligence operatives, marking the latest in a growing string of Iranian spy cases uncovered by Israeli security forces.
According to prosecutors, 23-year-old Yosef Ein-Eli, a resident of Tiberias, was recruited online by Iranian agents in late 2024 and began passing information and photos from his workplace at a hotel near the Dead Sea. The Israel Police and Shin Bet security service revealed his arrest in early October, though his identity had been under a gag order until now.
Ein-Eli allegedly sent his handlers images of tourist sites and hotels in southern Israel, receiving digital payments in return. According to the indictment filed Sunday in Beersheba District Court, Iranian agents later tasked him with gathering intelligence on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Israeli crime families, and unspecified IDF soldiers. However, authorities say he did not carry out those requests.
The charges also reveal that the Iranian handlers unsuccessfully tried to persuade Ein-Eli to engage in violent acts, including throwing a grenade at a residence, setting vehicles on fire, and photographing military bases.
Ein-Eli’s case was investigated by the Shin Bet and the Lahav 433 major crimes unit, which has been handling several similar incidents involving Israelis recruited via social media, particularly through Telegram. Many such recruits are initially assigned seemingly harmless tasks, such as photographing locations, before being asked to collect sensitive intelligence or plan attacks.
The indictment follows several recent espionage cases involving alleged Iranian efforts to infiltrate Israeli society. In one case, IDF reservist Maor Kringel and his associate Tal Amram were charged last month with spying for Iran. Kringel was reportedly offered 100,000 shekels ($30,000) to assassinate his commanding officer—an order he did not carry out, according to court documents.
Israeli authorities have described the uptick in espionage cases as part of a broader Iranian campaign to recruit Israeli citizens online, often through fake social media profiles posing as sympathetic individuals or employers. The surge has even led to the establishment of a new prison wing in Haifa’s Damon facility dedicated to housing convicted Iranian agents and their collaborators.
In a joint statement released Sunday, the Israel Police and Shin Bet urged citizens to remain vigilant and report any suspicious contact from foreign individuals or organizations. “Security agencies will continue to act decisively to bring to justice any citizens who cooperate with hostile entities,” the statement read.
The case underscores the expanding reach of Iranian cyber and human intelligence operations, as well as Israel’s increasing focus on counter-espionage amid a wave of online recruitment efforts targeting ordinary Israelis.