Teen Spy Suspect Claimed He Thought Handler Was 'Leftist'

New details have emerged from the investigation of one of two minors accused of spying for Iran, following the indictment filed against them. In his interrogation, the minor described carrying out tasks for the handler, what made him suspicious of the handler's identity, and his actions after realizing the connection to Iran. The details were published by i24news.

"After I sent him videos of the Herzliya mall, I deleted everything because I was afraid he would carry out an attack. When he asked me to photograph a mall in Tel Aviv, the number of exits and guards, I started to suspect, I stopped sending messages and deleted the chat," the minor recounted during the investigation. Despite his suspicions, contact with the handler continued. When asked why he persisted with the tasks, the minor replied, "Another user contacted me from there and suggested I open a Telegram channel and think of ways to recruit more teenagers for jobs. He transferred 900 shekels to me to buy a phone, and I faked a receipt from KSP."

During the interrogation, the minor also addressed the claim that he did not know he was dealing with an Iranian agent and believed him to be a "leftist." The investigator confronted him with an exchange where the minor himself wrote, "A drill on the Iranian." The minor responded, "I called him that, but I still wasn't sure he was Iranian." When directly asked, "Do you confirm that you carried out tasks for an Iranian agent knowing he was Iranian?" he answered affirmatively. "Yes, but he didn't ask me to do anything dangerous to the country or citizens. I just wanted money. After the graffiti mission and photographing the Herzliya mall, he told me he was connected to Iran. I made a mistake, I regret it," he stated.

The two minors, aged 14 and 16 from Kiryat Motzkin, are accused of carrying out tasks for a foreign agent acting on behalf of Iran. These tasks included spraying graffiti with slogans such as "Extremism has given us endless wars," "Our future is not in the hands of a dictator," and "We will not allow war to tarnish our lives." For spraying and documenting the graffiti, the main minor received approximately $250, of which he gave his friend 150 shekels. In total, the main minor received about 3,500 shekels from the handler.

Subsequently, the handler asked the minor to photograph a mall, specific roads, and a government building in the Tel Aviv area, as well as document the number of exits and security guards at the mall. The second minor refused to participate in this task, telling his friend he suspected an Iranian agent was involved. The main minor, however, completed the mission, sent the photos and information, and received about 600 shekels in return. He also sent the handler a picture of his passport and face for identity verification, for about $100. The handler provided money for a new phone to establish a channel for recruiting more operatives, but the minor did not purchase the device. In a voice message to his friend, he asked to add "as many kids as possible" to the Telegram channel, specifying he was looking for "kids who don't care about getting caught" for "high-risk" missions.