The punishment of the defendant who spied for Iran and photographed Gallant's home

The Haifa District Court sentenced Fares Abu al-Hija to 55 months in prison for contact with a foreign agent after carrying out tasks under Iranian direction, including photographing the home of former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. An additional 24 months of suspended sentence and a fine of 10,000 shekels were imposed. The court ruled that this was a serious security offense that harmed state security.

The Haifa District Court sentenced Fares Abu al-Hija, a 32-year-old resident of Kokhav Abu al-Hija, to 55 months in prison for contact with a foreign agent. According to the indictment, between October 2025 and January 2026, he was in contact on Telegram with a person calling himself "Martin," and performed six tasks for him in exchange for thousands of dollars transferred via the Binance app. The tasks included purchasing and hiding cell phones in Haifa and Kiryat Haim, leaving an envelope with a crypto account access code in Zikhron Yaakov, and photographing a café in Tel Aviv. The final task involved photographing streets and the surroundings of the home of former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Moshav Amikam. He was arrested at the scene shortly after sending the photos. Gallant was not at home at the time. The court ruled that this was a serious security offense that harmed state security, and that the potential for damage was high. In addition, 24 months of suspended sentence and a fine of 10,000 shekels were imposed. The conviction was made as part of a plea deal that did not include a sentencing component.