Israeli charged in Iranian plot to kill Benjamin Netanyahu, officials say
An Israeli businessman was smuggled into Iran to plot the assassination of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials, police and intelligence officials said Thursday, amid rising tensions over Trojan Horse attacks this week that killed dozens of Hezbollah fighters and civilians in Lebanon and wounded thousands more.
The plot was motivated in part to avenge the July death of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, the police and the Shin Bet security service said in a joint statement. Haniyeh was killed by a bomb hidden at his guest house in Tehran in a strike attributed to Israel.
In a joint statement, Israel's national police and Shin Bet domestic security service described the unnamed suspect as "a businessman who lived in Turkey for an extended period, maintained business and social ties with Turkish and Iranian individuals."
More: Lebanon on edge after wave of Hezbollah blasts and as Israel vows 'new phase' in war
The suspect was twice smuggled into Iran from Turkey to meet with Iranian intelligence officials, the Israeli statement said. He demanded $1 million in advance to help kill targets including Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar − but received a paltry 5,000 Euros for his trouble before Israeli police arrested him last month.
News of the suspect's formal indictment Thursday on "serious security" charges came as Israel bombed southern Lebanon after explosions in booby-trapped walkie-talkies and pagers in the past two days caused bloody havoc in the ranks of its arch-foe Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The attacks on Hezbollah's communications equipment killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000, raising fears that a full-blown war was imminent. The action also sowed disarray across Lebanon as panicked residents abandoned their mobile phones.
More: Hezbollah radios explode, injuring hundreds in new blasts tied to Israel
Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime Hezbollah supremo, swore in a televised address Thursday that Israel would receive a "just punishment" and said Israel's northern border wouldn't know peace until Israel ended its 11-month war in Gaza. Israeli fighter jets buzzed Beirut as he spoke.
Hezbollah, based in southern Lebanon, is Iran's closest regional ally.
In the alleged assassination plot announced Thursday, the suspect was asked to perform surveillance, logistics, and intimidation services for Tehran, including moving money and guns to drop sites, "photographing various crowded places in the country and sending them to Iranian elements," and "threatening other Israeli citizens activated in the country by the Iranian regime who did not complete requested tasks," the government said.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israeli wanted $1 million from Iran to kill Netanyahu: Officials
