Four Jerusalem Residents Convicted for Acting on Behalf of Iranian Agent

The Jerusalem District Court has convicted four residents of Beit Safafa, a neighborhood in southern Jerusalem, on charges related to national security offenses. Mamdouh Khader, Omri Abu Hamida, Mahmoud Khader, and Muhammad Taha pleaded guilty as part of plea deals with the prosecution. They were found to have carried out tasks for an individual acting on behalf of Iran.

According to the amended indictment, an Iranian handler contacted one of the defendants and offered money for assignments aimed at harming Israel's security. These tasks included establishing a terror cell, planning the assassination of a nuclear scientist and his family, acquiring weapons and grenades, and staging attacks on a soldier's home and a police vehicle.

Mamdouh Khader and Omri Abu Hamida were convicted of failing to prevent a terrorist act. They participated in a reconnaissance trip to the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, where they were informed of the Iranian handler's mission. After being denied entry, they filmed the institute's entrance and sent the footage to the Iranian side. Abu Hamida was later told that a target for elimination by the Iranians was in the vicinity, but neither took action to prevent the crime, according to the prosecution.

Mahmoud Khader and Muhammad Taha were convicted of aiding contact with a foreign agent. Mahmoud Khader was involved in creating and filming graffiti in Jerusalem, transporting another defendant to receive grenades, and helping to obtain a fake police license plate for a staged filming. Taha suggested throwing a stun grenade into an empty house in the village of Katana to simulate an attack on a Jewish home, filmed the incident, and sent the video to an intermediary connected to the Iranian handler. He also stored a phone used for communication with the handler.

Sentencing hearings for the convicted individuals will be scheduled later. Proceedings against other defendants in the case are ongoing.