The Shin Bet has launched a broad awareness campaign in Israel’s Haredi community after identifying Iranian efforts to recruit spies from within the sector, reaching out to rabbis, media figures, local politicians and other influential figures to warn of the danger.
“Recently, security officials approached me and told me that we in the Haredi community are harming ourselves,” Rabbi Yigal Cohen, a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council and a prominent Sephardic Haredi rabbi, said.
Haredi magazine cover: 'The Iranian effort to recruit agents in Haredi neighborhoods'
“The Iranians are looking for spies. They ask people to photograph places for them, to move weapons from place to place, and, God forbid, there are those who are tempted,” he said. “I beg you, there is no greater desecration of God’s name than seeing an observant Jew betray his people.”
Cohen’s warning is part of a wider effort now increasingly visible in Haredi media. In recent months, articles, radio segments and social media posts have warned against Iranian espionage recruitment. ynet has learned that the campaign is being coordinated by the Shin Bet, whose officials have contacted influential figures across the community to help spread the message.
The effort comes against the backdrop of Iran’s continuing attempts to recruit Israelis for espionage, including inside the Haredi sector. In conversations with senior Haredi figures, security officials warned that some young people may be particularly vulnerable because they are less familiar with Iranian manipulation methods and may initially view suspicious approaches as harmless.
The Shin Bet has worked with senior figures in Haredi media to amplify the warnings. Aryeh Zisman, a senior writer for the Degel HaTorah newspaper Yated Ne’eman, devoted a significant portion of one of his recent columns to the issue, including personal warnings about recruitment attempts.
“Last week it reached me firsthand,” Zisman wrote before describing cases in which Haredim had allegedly been approached.
Security officials also contacted Haredi journalist and commentator Israel Cohen, who is considered influential and close to senior rabbinical and political figures. Cohen repeated the warnings on his Kol Barama radio program and on social media, and also helped connect security agencies with rabbis and opinion leaders.
The Haredi magazine Rega also published a cover story about “the Iranian effort to recruit agents in Haredi neighborhoods.”
Yedidya Lau, an adviser at the Federation of Local Authorities, also met Shin Bet officials and helped pass the message through Haredi municipal leaders. “Hostile actors tried to penetrate Haredi society as well, attempting to exploit parts of the community that are less exposed to the various Iranian manipulation methods and to the fact that innocent approaches can have disastrous consequences,” Lau said.
He added that the Federation of Local Authorities’ connections with municipal leaders and professionals helped identify vulnerabilities and quickly coordinate the effort.
The Shin Bet said in response that it works to thwart espionage threats and the exposure of state secrets under the powers granted to it by law. “As part of this, awareness activities are carried out among the various sectors of Israeli society,” the agency said.