A resident of the central city of Petah Tikva has been arrested for carrying out missions on behalf of “foreign elements,” the Shin Bet security agency and police said Monday, the latest in a series of plots involving civilians apparently recruited by Iran that security agencies say have been foiled in recent months.
Alexander Granovsky, 29, was detained over suspicions he was “committing security offenses after he was suspected of being involved in several vehicle arsons on behalf of foreign elements,” the Shin Bet and police said.
According to the investigation, Granovsky has been in contact with “terror elements” from abroad since November, and carried out “a large number of different security tasks for them” for monetary gain.
The Shin Bet said Granovsky had known that the tasks had the “potential to harm national security.”
The agency did not explicitly say that Iran was behind the plot, but the tasks bore similarities to previous alleged Iranian attempts.
The tasks that Granovsky carried out, according to the Shin Bet, included setting fire to eight vehicles across Israel, as well as graffitiing “Children of Ruhollah” — referring to Ruhollah Khomeini, the first supreme leader of the Islamic Republic — on one of the cars.
He also allegedly photographed a state-owned facility in central Israel, took a photo of the entrance to the neighborhood where former defense minister MK Benny Gantz resides, and sent the latter image to his handlers.
Granovsky is also accused of sending his handlers information about an Israeli civilian for the purpose of examining his recruitment for various tasks, purchasing military fatigues for a video in which he would be seen burning them, and more.
