Israel said on Monday it had arrested seven Israeli citizens after uncovering a long-standing operation to spy on sensitive military and energy installations on behalf of Iran.
The arrests of the group — who Israeli authorities alleged carried out reconnaissance for more than two years in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency — came after Iran and Tehran-backed Hizbollah attacked Israeli military sites in recent months.
The seven Jewish Israelis, including two minors, carried out “hundreds” of intelligence-gathering missions for Iran, including photographing sensitive military installations such as the Nevatim air base, Iron Dome air defence batteries and the Hadera power plant, said Israeli authorities. They also gathered information on naval bases and other targets, authorities said.