They knew the mission came from Iran: Four residents of Beit Safafa convicted of security offenses

The Jerusalem District Court convicted four residents of the Beit Safafa neighborhood in East Jerusalem of security offenses as part of a plea deal. The defendants carried out missions for an Iranian agent, including intelligence gathering for an assassination target, obtaining weapons, and throwing a stun grenade. Two were convicted of failure to prevent a terrorist act, and two of aiding contact with a foreign agent.

The Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday convicted four residents of the Beit Safafa neighborhood in East Jerusalem of security offenses as part of a plea deal. The defendants, Mamdouh Khader, Omari Abu Hamida, Mahmoud Khader, and Muhammad Taha, were convicted of carrying out missions for an entity operating on behalf of Iran. According to the amended indictment, the Iranian entity contacted another defendant and assigned him tasks for payment, including establishing a terror cell, obtaining weapons, and focused intelligence gathering intended to operate for the assassination of a nuclear scientist and his family. Khader and Abu Hamida were convicted of failure to prevent a terrorist act, after joining a trip to the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, knowing the mission was directly ordered from Iran. When their entry to the institute grounds was prevented, they documented the entrance and transferred videos to the handler. Abu Hamida was explicitly told that the target was a person "the Iranians wish to assassinate," but the two took no steps to prevent the act. Mahmoud Khader and Muhammad Taha were convicted of aiding contact with a foreign agent. Khader assisted in spraying graffiti, transporting to obtain two grenades, and obtaining a fake police license plate. Taha initiated and documented the throwing of a stun grenade at an empty house in Kfar Katana to create evidence of harm to a Jewish home, and hid the phone used for contact with the Iranian handler. The case is managed by attorney Benny Libskind from the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office, and sentencing arguments will be heard at a date to be set.