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Remand of Arrested Neturei Karta ‘Iranian Spy’ Extended

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With their record of siding with Israel's Arab enemies, it is not surprising that a member of Neturei Karta has been charged with spying for Iran against the Jewish state.
With their record of siding with Israel’s Arab enemies, it is not surprising that a member of Neturei Karta has been charged with spying for Iran against the Jewish state.
Remand was extended on Monday for a member of the fringe Chareidi anti-Zionist Neturei Karta sect, who was arrested about three weeks ago on suspicion of offering to spy for Iran. Another hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

During Monday’s hearing, it was revealed that the suspect had previously applied for a Libyan passport at one of the North African country’s European embassies with the intent of moving there, about 20 years ago, a few years after he was discharged from military service due to mental health issues.

The attorney for the suspect, identified as a 47-year-old Jerusalem resident, asked that the suspect’s full identity not be revealed because he is not mentally competent. The lawyer also claimed the suspect’s confession to the Shabak Israel Security Agency was inadmissible since his client had not spoken with an attorney.

The prosecution countered that the defendant added details to his confession even after meeting with a lawyer, and claimed that there is no indication he suffers from a mental illness.

According to the indictment, the man took the initiative to spy on Israel, without having been contacted by enemy agents. He flew to Berlin and went to the local Iranian embassy, where he presented himself as an Israeli citizen interested in speaking to Iranian officials. He met with three Iranian men, one of whom presented himself as “Hajj Baba.”

He explained to the Iranians that he is an Israeli citizen who believes the state of Israel should not exist, and that he wishes to see Israel governed by non-Jews. He offered to gather information and pass it on to them, and said that he is even willing to murder a “Zionist.”

“Hajj Baba” gave the man an e-mail address and password, and told him to stay in touch with the embassy.

On January 20, 2011, the man returned to Israel. He checked the email account he had been given several times, using a computer at an Internet café in Jerusalem. He also called the Iranian embassy in Berlin twice, each time from a public phone. On one occasion embassy officials did not answer. On the other, the suspect asked to speak to “Hajj Baba” and was told he was not present that day.

Neturei Karta is a small fringe sect which believes that the establishment of the State of Israel was sacrilege, and which often cooperates with other extremist groups to carry out anti-Israel activity. Leading members of the group have held friendly meetings with Iranian leaders in Iran in recent years.

The indictment includes charges of multiple counts of contact with a foreign agent, and contact with an enemy agent with the intent to commit treason.

The indictment said that the suspect asked the Iranian men with whom he met why they were “unable to protect Iranian officials in Tehran from Israeli assassinations.” When one of the Iranian officials responded that he should not belittle the Iranians if he was seeking asylum, the Neturei Karta member denied that was seeking asylum and was “willing to kill Zionists” to prove his honest intentions to the Iranians.

According to the Justice Ministry, the suspect was questioned by the Israel Police’s Lahav 443 unit and the Shin Bet security agency before his indictment.

In posters put up on walls and bulletin boards following the suspect’s arrest, Neturei Karta wrote of the 47-year-old suspect, who lives in Jerusalem: “For over two weeks, he is withering away in Zionist captivity, under harsh and cruel torture, and according to their Sodom-like laws, it is forbidden to publish his arrest. Shall we remain silent? This is not the time to be silent. We will gather today, to sound our shout of protest, that will be heard from one end of the world to the other.”

 

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