An Israeli woman has been indicted for allegedly spying for the Lebanese-based Hezbollah terrorist group.
Lod District Court charged the 25-year-old with "contact with a foreign agent, handing information to an enemy with the intent to harm state security and providing a service to a terrorist organization."
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Illustrative: UN troops look out over a Hezbollah flag in southern Lebanon
(Photo: AP)
The indictment said that the woman, who was thought to have lived in the southern city of Be'er Sheva from 2018-2019, contacted Ali, a resident of southern Lebanon, through Facebook.
The unnamed woman and Ali were in contact for a relatively short period before he began requesting that she perform various espionage tasks on Hezbollah's behalf. This included taking and sending photographs.
She is alleged to have captured numerous images, including "12 photographs of military vehicles traveling on Route 6; photographs of the perimeter fence in the area of Rosh Hanikra [on the Israel-Lebanon border]; the Bahai Gardens in Haifa; the lookout point at Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel compound [in Haifa]; Haifa Port; military vehicles in the Hebron area; and Hatzerim Air Force Base and Air Force Museum."
The defendant is also was accused of photographing the Iron Dome Missile Defense system installations near her Be'er Sheva home, the Erez Crossing between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and Israel, and Haifa's Rambam Healthcare Campus.
She either acquiesced to each request and took the photographs herself or was in contact with a friend who did so. In all cases, the defendant forwarded Ali the images.
Ali also requested that the woman attend a lecture given by an Israeli journalist where she asked the speaker whether be believed war between Israel and Hezbollah was likely.
He responded in the negative, an answer that she too passed on to Ali.
Later, Ali asked of her to photograph a "military base" near Tel Aviv University, which she did not comply with.
Seeking to extend her remand until the end of proceedings against her, prosecutors wrote that the defendant has been charged with multiple and varied serious security crimes.
They said that there "was a reasonable basis to fear she will endanger public security" and that in identifying with a "terrorist organization known for its unusual violence and cruelty," she presented a clear and present danger to the State of Israel.