3 Israelis indicted for handing Hamas sensitive info on country’s telecom networks
Three men from northern Israel have been indicted for allegedly sending a large volume of sensitive security-related material to the Hamas terror group in Turkey, according to a joint statement by the Israel Police, the State Prosecutor’s Office and the Shin Bet security agency.
The charge sheet, filed today, alleges that the trio committed “grave security offenses” and rendered the infrastructure of one of the country’s largest telecommunications companies vulnerable to a potential cyber-attack during a future war.
One of the defendants — identified only by the Hebrew initials of his first and last names, Resh Ayin — has worked for Cellcom since 2004 as a software engineer, the indictment says.
In 2017, out of “ideological identification with Hamas and its goals,” he met officials from the Palestinian terror group while visiting Turkey. He is accused of handing them sensitive information on communications infrastructure in Israel, which he had come across as part of his work.
In 2020 and 2021, at Hamas’s request, the employee asked another defendant — a freelance adviser to Cellcom on computer and communications networks, identified by his initials Shin Ayin — to hand him information on the infrastructure’s weak points, while noting this was for use by Hamas.
The two employees had also conspired since 2015 to try to paralyze Cellcom’s networks in wartime, being aware the networks are used by military and police forces.
They are indicted in the case along with Resh Ayin’s brother, who met Hamas officials on his behalf at least three times.
They “endangered national security in a concrete and grave way,” the statement says, but their plans have now been foiled by the security services.
The defendants’ full names and many other details are barred from publication by a court order.