Israeli Defense Minister’s Cleaner Charged With Spying for Iran

(Bloomberg) -- A cleaner employed for years by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has been indicted on charges of espionage linked to Iran, the state prosecutor’s office said Thursday.

Omri Goren Gorochovsky, 37, was arrested on Nov 4., a few days after he’d used a false identity to contact an Iranian-affiliated hacking group known as Black Shadow using the Telegram social-media platform, according to a statement presented to court. News reports had linked the group to a number of cyberattacks against Israeli targets in October. 

He offered to collect information for the group, and plant malware on Gantz’s computer in exchange for money, prosecutors said in the statement. Gorochovsky sent photos of the minister’s computers, phone and military items, as well as family photographs, to prove his access, it said. 

“The defendant took these actions with the intention to hurt the security of the country,” according to the indictment. He was arrested before he managed to take any action, and was never exposed to classified materials, the Israel Security Agency, better know as Shin Bet, said in a statement.

Attorney Gal Wolf, public defendant for the cleaner, said in a statement that his client had no intention of damaging national security and acted out of economic distress.

Tension between Israel and Iran is running high over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and expanded military footprint in Syria. The two rivals have accused each other of targeting the other’s shipping in the Persian Gulf and cyberattacks. 

Last month, an Iranian general said Israel was likely behind an Oct. 26 cyber strike that paralyzed gas stations nationwide.

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