Iranian-Backed Terror Cell Foiled In West Bank
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Iranian military intelligence operation in the West Bank was planning to carry out terror attacks and was collecting intelligence for the Islamic Republic.
The Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, on Wednesday revealed that it had uncovered the terror cell working in the Hebron area, which was recruited and financed by an Iranian intelligence operative living in South Africa.
Three members of the cell, which had been operating for about two years, were arrested in November, according to the ISA. The principal operative that was arrested is Mahmoud Makharmeh, 29, a computer engineering student who resides in Hebron. He was recruited for Iranian intelligence activity by a relative, Bakhar Makharmeh, who is from Hebron, but has lived in recent years in South Africa.
Among Mahmoud Makharmeh’s missions, according to the ISA, were: Recruiting suicide terrorists and a cell to carry out shooting attacks; undergoing a training course in explosives and war materiel; opening a computer store in the area to establish a base of operations for intelligence collection in Hebron; recruiting an Israeli Arab who could photograph inside Israel; and transferring Israeli SIM cards and funds to the Iranians for use for operations in Israel.
The ISA said in a statement that the uncovering of the cell “underscores Iran’s involvement in sponsoring terrorism against Israel and exposes Iran’s efforts in various countries in order to promote hostile activity against Israel.”
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
