Iran recruited Israeli businessman in plot to assassinate political leaders incl. Netanyahu & DM Gallant, Shin Bet reveals

A 73-year-old Jewish businessman was arrested last month for his involvement in an Iranian plot to assassinate Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and others. 

Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced the arrest on Thursday morning in an indictment against the businessman, revealing that the Jewish Israeli named Moti Maman, had been smuggled into Iran twice, and has engaged in communication with Iranian intelligence officials. 

Maman reportedly lived in Turkey for many years and had ties with Turkish and Iranian officials who helped to recruit him. 

On Thursday morning, a few additional details about the security affair were revealed on Army Radio.

The businessman, whose full name was not initially released, was reportedly tens of thousands of shekels in debt, which was instrumental in his decision to work with the Turkish and Iranian officials. 

He was apparently recruited this past April, through the mediation of Turkish officials Andrei Farouk Aslan and Junayid Aslan. Through them, he agreed to meet with a wealthy businessman living in Iran named Adi to promote business activity. 

He traveled between Cyprus and Turkey for several weeks, while the contacts were developing, before eventually meeting the Turkish businessmen at a hotel in the city of Samandag on the Iranian border in May.

When it became clear that Adi could not leave Iran, the businessman was smuggled across the border in a vehicle to meet Adi and another Iranian named Khaja, who was reportedly an Iranian security operative. 

During that initial meeting, the businessman was asked by Adi to engage in several activities within Israel to demonstrate his abilities to his Iranian handlers, such as transferring money or a weapon to predetermined points, photographing various crowded places and sending the images to Iranian officials.

He was also responsible for threatening other Israelis – operating on behalf of the Iranian regime – who did not carry out requested missions. The businessman said he would investigate the possibility of undertaking such operations. 

The interrogations revealed that at least one of the Iranian contacts spoke Hebrew. The Iranian handlers also tried to convince him that if he were able to successfully carry out an assassination against an Israeli leader, he would be preventing a war between Israel and Iran by allowing the Islamic Republic to avenge the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. 

The Israeli citizen entered Iran again in August, after being smuggled through the border crossing hidden in the cabin of a truck. During this meeting, the Iranians continued to push for the assassination of senior Israeli officials, such as Netanyahu, Gallant, Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, or former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

The businessman reportedly demanded an advance payment of $1 million because of the difficult nature of the task. However, Iranian agents were unwilling to do so. Before leaving Iran, he received a payment of 5,000 Euros for his part in the meetings up until that point. 

The businessman was later identified as Moti Maman, a 73-year-old resident of Ashkelon. Maman's lawyer released a statement saying that he “is a person who has greatly helped the security services of the State of Israel, whose children serve in the security forces, and who, as part of his business, made a mistake in judgment.” 

“My client cooperated and continues to cooperate fully with the authorities,” the lawyer stated. 

A senior Shin Bet official told Israeli media, “This is a very serious affair and is an example of the tremendous efforts of Iranian intelligence officials to recruit Israeli citizens to promote terrorist activities in Israel. The assessment of security officials is that the Iranians will continue their efforts to recruit operatives in Israel for the purpose of gathering intelligence and carrying out terrorist missions in Israel, while also turning to elements with criminal backgrounds in order to carry out the missions.”