An Israeli man has been charged with an alleged Iranian-backed assassination plot against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several other senior government officials.
According to a statement from Israeli police, the Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence service, and Rahab 433, the FBI's equivalent, worked together to uncover a plot involving an Israeli-Jewish businessman employed by Iranian intelligence to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the Israeli defense minister, the head of the Shin Bet and others.
The man, who was arrested in August, was formally charged this morning, with police releasing details of what they allegedly discovered about the plot shortly thereafter. His name was not officially released in a police statement, but The Israel Times Give him a name Moti Maman, 73, from Ashkelon in the southern district of Israel.
A police spokesman said on Thursday morning: “An Israeli national had sneaked into Iran on two occasions to meet with Iranian intelligence officers. He expressed a willingness to commit serious terrorist acts on Israeli territory, including plots to assassinate senior Israeli officials… The suspect, who was subsequently arrested, demanded large sums of money in exchange for providing information and further assistance to the Iranian intelligence officers.”
address Maman allegedly demanded $1 million from Iranian intelligence for the assassination plot and received cash as payment for meetings. In addition to the assassination plot, he was also instructed to deliver money and weapons to other intelligence agents in Iran, conduct reconnaissance, and threaten other Israelis employed by Iranian intelligence if they failed to complete their missions. The suspect, a businessman, is said to have traveled to Turkey for work, where he met with Turkish and Iranian individuals and arranged for them to smuggle him into Iran for the meetings.
It is alleged that the plot to assassinate Prime Minister Netanyahu was “viewed by Iranian authorities as retaliation for the murder of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.”
The allegations against Maman, who is reported to be cooperating with authorities, come as Israel steps up operations against Iranian proxy Hezbollah and assassinations of senior government officials make the news again and again. Former US president and re-election candidate Donald Trump has suffered two assassination attempts this year alone, and NATO member Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot at close range in May.
