Israel Defence Minister's cleaner accused of spying on him for Iran

An Israeli man who worked as a cleaner at the country’s Defence Minister’s Benny Gantz’ house has been accused of spying after allegedly contacting an Iran-linked hacker group to pass on information to Iran, Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet said on Thursday, as per AP.

The Shin Bet added that Omri Goren, who worked at the minister’s home as a cleaner and caretaker, was in contact with an unnamed “Iranian entity” and sent pictures of different items around the house including the picture of the minister’s computer, phone and tablet. 

“In order to prove his ability and sincerity, Goren took photographs of a number of objects in different parts of the minister’s house, which he sent to the figure, including pictures of the minister’s computer,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.

As per AP, Shin Bet also said that Goren was about to infect the minister’s computer with malware, but got arrested before he could do that. 

Gantz warned by Shin Bet earlier too

Interestingly, this is not the first time that Gantz faced something like this. In 2019, when he was campaigning for elections, he was warned by Shin Bet that Iranian intelligence hacked his cellphone which obviously put “his personal details and addresses in hostile hands.”

Not the first time in court for Goren

As per Times of Israel, Goren has been found guilty of crime five-six times from 2002-2013. He has been convicted of bank robbery and theft and has served four jail terms for the charges. According to Shin Bet, Goren had contacted “a figure affiliated with Iran and offered to help him in different ways, in light of his access to the minister’s home.”

“In order to prove his ability and sincerity, Goren took photographs of a number of objects in different parts of the minister’s house, which he sent to the figure, including pictures of the minister’s computer,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.

IMAGE: AP