Israeli citizen Fares Abu al-Hija, a resident of Kaukab in northern Israel, was sentenced to 4½ years in prison Tuesday after he was convicted of spying for Iran, including gathering intelligence on former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and traveling to Gallant’s home in Moshav Amikam, where he was arrested.
Abu al-Hija, 32, was convicted in a Haifa Court under a plea agreement of contact with a foreign agent. According to the indictment, filed in February, he was in contact from October 2025 to January 2026 via Telegram with a person who called himself “Martin” and carried out a series of tasks for him in exchange for payments transferred through the Binance app.
According to the indictment, Abu al-Hija carried out the assignments despite “suspecting that the person was a foreign agent and refraining from investigating that suspicion.”
As part of the tasks he was given, he purchased and concealed mobile phones and a charger at several locations in Haifa and Kiryat Haim, activated the devices, installed communication apps on them, documented the hiding places and sent the documentation to his handler.
He was later asked to deliver an envelope containing an access code to a cryptocurrency account at a location in Zikhron Ya’akov and to photograph a cafe in Tel Aviv.
The prosecution, represented by attorney Yaniv Zohar, asked the court to set a sentencing range of five to eight years in prison, arguing that the offenses were committed for financial gain during wartime and that the potential harm was significant.
Defense attorney Adel Dabbah argued that the acts were not at the highest level of severity, that his client did not know the location in Amikam was connected to Gallant and that he had not acted out of ideological motives.
In explaining the sentence, Judge Avi Levy said the defendant had acted in a planned and sustained manner and that the potential harm was high because the activities were intended to gather intelligence and harm state security.
Former defense minister Yoav Gallant
(Photo: Motti Kimchi)
The judge noted that Abu al-Hija received a total of about $3,600 for the assignments and chose not to investigate his suspicions regarding the identity of his handler.
At the same time, the judge took into account Abu al-Hija’s confession, remorse, lack of a criminal record and his parents’ medical condition.
“The defendant has no criminal record, took responsibility and expressed remorse for his actions. I took into account the defendant’s family circumstances, including his parents’ serious health conditions and the effect of their son’s arrest on their mental state,” the judge said.
In addition to the prison term, Abu al-Hija was also sentenced to two years’ suspended imprisonment.