Prosecutors in Tel Aviv filed an indictment on Thursday against an Israeli man accused of spying on a nuclear scientist who Iranian intelligence sought to assassinate. The announcement came after it was cleared for publication that an Israeli couple were also arrested for spying for Iran.
Asher Binyamin Weiss, a resident of Bnei Brak, is accused of using a Go Pro camera to record the home and car of an Israeli nuclear scientist, whose name is prohibited from publication. According to the indictment, the video was sent to an Iranian handler.
Under the direction of the Iranian agent, Weiss also set fire to vehicles, threw pipes on Israeli roads, sprayed graffiti and hung hundreds of inflammatory banners in Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan calling for civilian riots.
Also on Thursday, it was cleared for publication that authorities arrested an Israeli couple in their 30s suspected of gathering intelligence on sensitive national infrastructure sites and tracking high-profile academic figures on behalf of Iranian agents.
The suspects were identified as Rafael Goliev and his wife, Lela, of Lod. They were recruited in what the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) described as “a covert Iranian intelligence network targeting Israeli citizens of Caucasian descent.”
According to Shin Bet sources, Rafael Goliev was reportedly recruited by Elshan Agayev, a 56-year-old Azeri operative working on behalf of Iranian officials. The investigation found that Goliev carried out surveillance missions, including monitoring sensitive security sites such as the Mossad headquarters.
Additionally, he gathered intelligence on a female academic affiliated with the Institute for National Security Studies, a think tank affiliated with Tel Aviv University. At one point, Goliev was instructed to find a potential assassin to act on Iran’s orders. His wife, Lela, reportedly assisted him in some of these operations.
Israeli security uncovered several Iranian plots to recruit Israelis in October. Two Israelis were arrested for their involvement in an Iranian plot to assassinate a high-profile Israeli figure. Another seven Israelis arrested for planning to assassinate a senior Israeli scientist and the mayor of a large Israeli city.
