Northern Israel man indicted for spying for Iran, filming route to IDF base, police station

A man from the North was indicted on Sunday for collecting and passing information, including photographs and videos, to Iranian agents, authorities announced.

Israel Police identified the man as Wisam Galeb Salah Awad, 50, an Israeli citizen from the northern town of Mazra’a near Acre.

In the indictment submitted to the Haifa District Court, prosecutors charged him with six counts of passing information to the enemy with intent to harm state security and two counts of contact with a foreign agent. They also asked the court to keep him in custody until the end of the proceedings.

According to the indictment, the initiative for the contact came from Awad himself. In late July or early August, he searched Telegram for groups linked to Iran and offered to carry out photography assignments in Israel in exchange for money.

Prosecutors allege that he wanted to harm state security both for money and out of a desire for revenge over Israel’s actions in Gaza. The indictment does not describe any payment he received.

After Awad posted his offer and joined a second Telegram group through a link, an Iranian handler contacted him. Following two days of correspondence, the handler directed him to another contact, who used the name “Meytham,” according to the indictment.

From late July or early August through October, Awad allegedly sent photographs, videos and information about sites in the North, including a medical equipment factory, the approach to an IDF base and a police station.

His first assignment was to drive twice around a roundabout near the Eden nursing home in Nahariya, film the journey and send the video to his handler, prosecutors said.

A few days later, Awad told the handler that he worked near the Zar’it military post and agreed to photograph it. He allegedly sent his location from near the post but refrained from taking photographs after seeing cameras and soldiers and becoming afraid of being caught.

Nahariya factory, IDF base, and police station targeted

On September 2, according to the indictment, Awad photographed the Etgar Medical Instruments factory in Nahariya and sent the image to his handler. He also marked the factory’s location on a map the handler had sent him.

The following day, or around that date, Awad allegedly took the initiative to film the route from Shavei Zion beach to the gate of the IDF’s Shraga base.

“This is the base you fire missiles and drones at,” he said while filming, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say he sent the video to the Telegram group for delivery to Meytham and subsequently confirmed the base’s identity on a satellite image.

The handler then told him not to act on his own initiative. Nevertheless, prosecutors allege, Awad independently photographed the Nahariya police station and its protective anti-drone netting several days later and sent the images.

Handler asked about IDF movements toward Lebanon

In October, the handler asked him to report unusual northbound IDF movements on Highways 4 and 70 to help identify preparations for a possible ground operation in Lebanon. Awad allegedly agreed and told him that military vehicles regularly traveled on Highway 4.

The case was investigated by police and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). The investigation began last month, and Awad’s detention was extended periodically. Police said investigators searched his home and seized phones and computers.

The indictment was filed by attorney Shir Mushiov of the Haifa District Attorney’s Office’s criminal division.

In their detention request, prosecutors said Awad admitted the alleged conduct during questioning and that investigators recovered Telegram conversations, maps and images from his phone. They argued that his initiative and alleged ideological motivation made him dangerous, despite his lack of previous convictions.