Iranian intelligence operative known as Rambod Namdar who had made contact with many Israeli citizens, several of whom were indicted on January 12, 2022
A Jewish Israeli woman who is accused of spying for Iran has attempted suicide and is now hospitalized in critical condition.
The woman, who was arrested for spying for Iran in December, attempted to take her own life while under house arrest at her home in Holon on Thursday, Hebrew media reported. Paramedics arrived at her home and found that she had tried to overdose on pills.
The Shin Bet security service said in January that five Jewish Israelis had been detained on charges of assisting an Iranian operative in gathering intelligence and making connections in Israel. The operative, going by the name of Rambod Namdar, maintained profiles on social media sites and pretended to be Jewish. What could be more worrying for the Israeli authorities is that some of the suspects seem to have known or suspected that Namdar was an Iranian operative, but agreed to cooperate for small sums of money, ranging from $900 to $5,000, a Shin Bet official said at the time.
Two of the suspects -- all of Iranian heritage -- include the woman from Holon and her husband, whose names are barred from publication. The wife, who worked as a presenter at a radio station, was in contact with Namdar and passed along photos of government offices over the course of several years, while her husband was accused of being aware of the connection, speaking with the Iranian operative himself, as well as transporting her to the US Consulate to photograph it.
The husband denied the accusations during an interview with Channel 12 news on Thursday evening following his wife’s suicide attempt, and accused the Shin Bet of extracting a false confession from her, saying, “For the past eight months, our life has turned into hell.”