Israeli police say they thwarted Iranian assassination attempt

Israeli police said Thursday that agents thwarted a recent Iranian assassination attempt, arresting an individual suspected of receiving money from Iran to coordinate an attack on top officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The civilian force Israel Police and the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet said in a joint statement that an Israeli citizen who had lived in Turkey was arrested last month.

The citizen had met with Iranian officials over the spring in Iran and was asked to take photographs of sensitive locations and to transfer money and guns into Israel, according to Israeli police. The person was asked in another visit in August to promote an assassination of Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the head of Shin Bet, Ronan Bar.

Iranian officials also asked the person to look into a potential assassination attempt on former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, officials said.

Israeli police said the foiled Iranian plot was in response to the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, which Iran has blamed on Israel.

The citizen requested $1 million to carry out the plots but was refused, police said. He was given more than $5,000 for his work.

Master Sgt. Dean Elsdunne, the international spokesperson for Israel Police, said in a video posted to social media platform X that the suspect sought to coordinate with other individuals activated by Iranian intelligence in Israel to carry out the plot.

“The Israel police, in close collaboration with the Shin Bet and other security agencies, will continue a relentless effort to monitor, to intercept and dismantle Iranian operations,” he said.

Shin Bet also announced this week that it had foiled an Iranian-backed Hezbollah plot, with the Lebanese group attempting to trigger a remote explosive device to kill a former senior defense official.

Israel also thwarted a major Hezbollah rocket attack last month by striking launch sites preemptively in Lebanon. The Iranian-backed militant group had sought to retaliate against Israel for the death of its top military commander Fuad Shukr in July.

And Hezbollah blamed Israel for a deadly wave of explosions in Lebanon this week in which pager messaging devices and handheld radios detonated, killing more than two dozen people and wounding thousands.