Four Jerusalem Residents Convicted of Espionage for Iran

Four residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Safafa have been convicted of security offenses committed on behalf of Iran. The four, Mamdouh Khader, Omri Abu Hmeida, Mahmoud Khader, and Muhammad Taha, confessed to the charges as part of a plea deal.

According to the amended indictment, an Iranian operative contacted another defendant in the case and tasked them, in exchange for payment, with missions aimed at harming national security. These missions included establishing a terror cell, assassinating a nuclear scientist and their family, acquiring weapons and grenades, and creating documentation simulating attacks on a soldier's home and a police car.

Mamdouh Khader and Omri Abu Hmeida were convicted of failing to prevent an act of terror. They had joined a trip to the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, where they were informed that the trip was part of a mission received from an Iranian operative.