3 Israelis gave sensitive info to Hamas in Turkey - planned to damage Cellcom network

Three residents of the north gave sensitive information to Hamas in Turkey - and planned to damage the operation of the Cellcom network during a war or a military operation. This is according to the indictment submitted at noon (Thursday) by the Cyber ​​Department of the State Attorney's Office at the end of an investigation by the Shin Bet.

According to the indictment, R. A., one of the accused, has been working since 2004 at Cellcom as a software engineer - a position in which he received very broad access privileges for computer systems and information systems in the company. Another defendant is S.A., an external consultant to the company in matters of communication networks and computer networks, and the third is Z.E. - the brother of R.E.
"Out of ideological identification with the Hamas organization, during 2017, while he was in Turkey, R.A. met with local Hamas officials," read a joint statement to the prosecutor's office, the police and the Shin Bet on the indictment. The meeting, according to them, took place through the mediation of Ashraf Hassan, an Israeli citizen A Hamas operative who lives in Turkey and Lebanon and is involved in promoting activities against Israel while exploiting the country's citizens and recruiting them. "According to the request of Hamas officials, RA passed on sensitive information about communication infrastructure in Israel - which is not accessible to the public - to which he was exposed as part of his work. Its purpose was to help Hamas elements damage these infrastructures, mainly during combat."
Through Ashraf's mediation, RA met in Turkey in the years 2021-2022 Bezam Akre, a senior member of the military wing of Hamas. Akre, who both he and Ashraf work under the command of the head of the West Bank region in Hamas Saleh Arori, asked RA for assistance in passing on more information. "During the meetings between the parties, Akre requested access to Cellcom's computer and information systems," the indictment reads. "In light of the above, after his return to Israel, RA met with SA, with the aim of obtaining information, among other things, about the weak points of the systems, while clarifying that the purpose of transferring said information is to enable Hamas to disrupt the activities of Cellcom during a war or a military operation ".
According to the indictment, S.A. worked for several years at Cellcom, and in 2017 he began serving as an external consultant to the company on communication and computer network issues. He gave RA information about Cellcom's information security systems and various ways to circumvent them. According to the indictment, he did all of this for the purposes of an unauthorized external intrusion into the company's computer and information systems, "knowing fully that R. A. intended to pass on the relevant information to Hamas members in Turkey."
In the indictment it was stated that even from around 2015, RA and SA discussed among themselves the possibility of disabling or disrupting various components in Cellcom's computer and information systems during war or military operations. "They did this out of their common desire to help the Palestinian military struggle in Israel, by damaging a central communication infrastructure in Israel (the Cellcom company) and its users, and harming the security of the state," the indictment reads.
"Within the context of their relationship, the defendants sought to rely on their skills and abilities in the field of computing and the extensive access they had, by virtue of their position, to the computing and information systems of the Cellcom company," it added. "In light of the above, the two acted to prepare and accumulate technological means in advance, which on 'order day' would allow them to penetrate the computer and information systems, including their critical components, and to activate software that would disable or severely disrupt the activity of Cellcom's communication network - among other things, even knowing that Cellcom provides services to the IDF forces and the police".
Another defendant is RA's brother, ZA, who, according to the indictment, was also in contact with Ashraf and met with him at least three times. On one of the occasions, R.A. asked M.A. to convey a message for him, according to which he wishes to maintain safe communication, which allows him to avoid surveillance and monitoring by the intelligence authorities of the State of Israel.
Employees who knew R.E. and S.A. were shocked when they learned of their actions. As mentioned, RA is a veteran engineer at the company, who has worked there for about 20 years, including at Netvision (which was merged into Cellcom in 2011). S.A., who was employed as an external consultant, worked for the company for several hours a week. "People here in the market, RA has friends here and there were no problems or questions with him," they said. They stated that RA had privileges and access to the system as part of his position, and he "knew it well".
According to the prosecutor's office, the Shin Bet and the police, "the actions of the accused endangered the security of the state in a very real and serious way. Their arrest and interrogation by the Israel Police and the Shin Bet led to the thwarting of Hamas' efforts to gather even more extensive information and damage Israel's communications infrastructure. Promoting terrorist activity - while senior Hamas officials continue, unhindered, with their daily lives in the various arenas abroad. The General Security Service together with the Israel Police will continue to work to locate and thwart all the activities of terrorist organizations against Israeli citizens and will work to bring to justice those who took part in activities that constitute a violation of state security."
to R.E. Charged in the indictment are crimes of aiding the enemy in war, providing information to the enemy with the intention of harming the security of the state (3 crimes), contact with a foreign agent (5 crimes), destroying evidence (two crimes) and conspiring to aid the enemy in war. S.A. was charged with the offenses of providing information to the enemy with the intention of harming the security of the state and conspiring to aid the enemy in the war. Z.A. was charged with the offense of contact with a foreign agent. The prosecutor's office asked to arrest the three until the end of the proceedings against them.
Lawyer Namir Adelbi, who represents RA, said that "just today a very serious indictment was filed, which attributes to the defendant a long series of serious security offenses. We asked to postpone the hearing in order to photograph the investigation materials in the case and deal with the allegations."