A 47-year-old member of the extremist ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta sect was indicted by the Jerusalem District Court for contacting an enemy agent after he approached the Iranian embassy in Berlin to offer his services to spy on Israel for Tehran.
He has been charged with contacting a foreign agent and treason.
The prosecution has asked the court to remand the defendant pending the conclusion of the legal proceeding against him.
The details of the case, and of the investigation that led to the man's arrest, have been placed under a comprehensive gag order.
The Neturei Karta sect opposes Zionism and negates the existence of the State of Israel.
The man reportedly researched the location of Iranian embassies worldwide and decided to contact the Iranian mission in Berlin. He flew to the German capital and went to the Iranian embassy, where he presented himself as an Israeli citizen interested in speaking to Iranian officials. He met with three Iranian men and explained to them 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.”
He returned to Israel in late January 2011 and proceeded to log onto the email account and contact the Iranian embassy in Berlin as instructed. According to the indictment, despite calling the embassy several times, each time from a different location, the defendant was unable to contact any of the three men he met at the embassy.
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.