Israeli Businessman Arrested For Allegedly Accepting Iranian Cash To Assassinate Benjamin
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar disclosed that Tehran was behind a covert operation targeting senior Israeli officials, which followed the assassination of Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh in late July.
An Israeli citizen has been arrested after allegedly accepting money from Iran to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli authorities Thursday.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar disclosed that Tehran was behind a covert operation targeting senior Israeli officials, which followed the assassination of Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh in late July.
According to the officials, Iranian operatives aimed to use an Israeli businessman, who had ties to Turkey, to orchestrate the assassination plot against Netanyahu and other top Israeli figures, including former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Mail Online reports that plans were reportedly in motion as early as April this year when Turkish citizens approached an Israeli businessman to discuss a scheme.
Andrei Farouk Aslan and Guneid Aslan are said to have acted as intermediaries, connecting the alleged assassin with Iran through Turkey.
In May, the intermediaries reportedly met with the unnamed Israeli businessman in Samandag to discuss the plot. The businessman allegedly demanded one million dollars before agreeing to any terms.
However, it is believed that he subsequently received 5,000 euros while undergoing training in Iran.
As part of his assignment, the businessman was allegedly tasked with filming Israeli sites for surveillance and intelligence purposes, and intimidating other Israelis who had been approached by Iran but were not complying with their espionage missions.
Iran also allegedly sought his assistance in recruiting Russians and Americans capable of assassinating figures opposed to the Iranian regime.
Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, has not specified how advanced the suspect’s operations were. The agency emphasized that thwarting one plot does not eliminate the broader threats facing Israel.
The businessman was indicted on Thursday. This comes in the wake of Iran’s vow for swift retaliation after Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike in Tehran on July 31. In April, drones and missiles were fired into Israel following the bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
The specifics of Iran’s intended retaliation for Haniyeh’s death remain unclear. Meanwhile, Israel announced an alleged assassination attempt on its Prime Minister amidst ongoing clashes with the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel stated Wednesday that it has entered a new phase in its conflict following a series of explosions in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday and Wednesday.
While Israel has not claimed responsibility for the detonations of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies introduced by Hezbollah to prevent mobile phone hacking, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant acknowledged that “the results are very impressive.”
Israeli citizen arrested over Netanyahu ‘assassination plot’
