Authorities said enlisting rabbis, influencers to warn Haredim against spying for Iran

NY Times reports on Israeli efforts to stop citizens’ cooperation with Iranian intelligence; 9 community members are among dozens who have been charged with espionage so far

Israeli authorities have reached out to rabbis and ultra-Orthodox influencers to send messages to their followers not to spy for Iran, according to a Saturday report in The New York Times.

Over the past two years, dozens of Israelis, including several soldiers and reservists, have been charged with espionage on behalf of Iran, with one soldier recently sentenced to five years in prison.

Haredim have been involved in at least nine cases of spying for Iran, and enlisting influential rabbis is one of the methods being used by police and prosecutors to turn the tide against the phenomenon, the report said.

The paper cited one recent video by Rabbi Yigal Cohen, a member of the Chief Rabbinate, in which he appealed to viewers not to aid Iran.

“I am begging you, there is no greater blasphemy than seeing a Torah-abiding, observant Jew betray his people,” he said in the video posted to social media.

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Cohen told The Times that he was approached by Israeli officials and asked to warn his followers against such acts.

Israel Cohen, another prominent Haredi commentator who has broadcast warnings on his platforms, told The Times that the Haredi community was in “shock” when the first arrests for espionage were reported, and said he “understood the need to warn against the danger and stop it.”

Mendel Unger, a Haredi journalist, published a video message in Yiddish, spoken by many in the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox community, warning against carrying out activities on behalf of Iran.

הפרגוד: העיתונאי ויוצר התוכן הפופולרי מענדל אונגר פרסם פנייה לציבור דוברי היידיש, שבה קרא לגלות ערנות, לשמור על ביטחון המדינה ולהימנע מכל סיוע לאיראנים בתחום המודיעין. pic.twitter.com/Gsx2jItWMq

— הפרגוד (@moshepargod) July 6, 2026

The security establishment has struggled to stem the phenomenon of spying for Iran, even during the recent war.

Most of the alleged spies are Israeli citizens contacted through social media by faceless Iran-linked agents, who promise money to recruits in exchange for their cooperation, though some have been foreign nationals in Israel on visas.

Iranian handlers usually start their recruits with relatively mundane tasks such as vandalism or the filming of public locations, which then escalate into more severe, sometimes even violent offenses.

The growing number of Iranian agents has even prompted Israel to open up a new wing in Haifa’s Damon prison for those indicted on such spying charges. Most of the cases are still making their way through the legal system.

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