An Israeli ambulance driver has been charged with carrying out intelligence-gathering missions for Iranian operatives, including photographing hospitals, documenting a senior official and filming several sensitive locations, the Shin Bet and Israel Police said Thursday.
Amir Hisham Mohammed Titi, a 34-year-old resident of Bi’ina in the Galilee, was arrested on June 29 in a joint operation by the Shin Bet and the Northern District Police’s central investigative unit. The arrest was carried out by undercover officers from the Border Police’s Tactical Brigade.
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According to the joint statement, investigators found that Titi allegedly exploited his work as an ambulance driver and his unrestricted access to hospitals across Israel to provide his handler with information and photographs showing how several medical centers were prepared during both routine periods and emergencies.
During one visit to a hospital in northern Israel, he allegedly photographed a senior public figure who was present at the facility.
Authorities said Titi was also sent on missions unrelated to his work. These allegedly included filming Hostages Square in Tel Aviv while holding a sign bearing photographs of hostages, documenting a protest at Horev Center in Haifa and photographing a community in the Sharon region where a senior security official lived.
Titi allegedly received tens of thousands of shekels for the missions. The money was transferred through bank accounts belonging to members of his family and through a digital wallet, according to the statement.
“This is serious activity by an Israeli citizen who assisted the enemy during wartime,” the Shin Bet and police said.
An indictment was filed against Titi on Thursday at the Haifa District Court by attorney Yehuda Dayan of the Haifa District Prosecutor’s Office.
The Shin Bet and Israel Police said they view any involvement by Israeli citizens in activity that endangers national security and the public with the utmost severity.
They warned Israelis against attempts by hostile actors to approach them, either openly or under false pretenses, to carry out assignments.
The agencies urged the public to remain vigilant and said they would continue using all legal means available to prosecute those involved in such activity.