Prosecutors: 23-Year-Old From Eilat Filmed Ovda Air Force Base for Iran, Indictment Says

The Jerusalem District Prosecutor's Office today (Monday) filed an indictment against Ali Gabar, a 23-year-old resident of Eilat, accused of maintaining contact with an Iranian intelligence operative and passing along sensitive information from the Israel Air Force's Ovda base, where he worked.

According to the indictment, Gabar made contact with a foreign agent via the Telegram app after looking for work. He later began carrying out a series of tasks for him in exchange for payments sent via PayPal and other digital wallets.

As part of his activity, Gabar documented various areas, including a traffic circle in Eilat; he also took photos inside the Ovda base itself and produced videos of the road leading to it. In addition, he was asked to photograph sensitive infrastructure, including security-related locations and residential homes, while receiving detailed operational instructions intended to conceal his activity.

According to the indictment, at some point Gabar suspected the contact was acting on behalf of Iran, yet he continued to keep in touch with the agent and perform additional tasks for payment. For the missions he carried out, he received hundreds of dollars transferred via PayPal and digital wallets.

The prosecution attributes to Gabar the offenses of contact with a foreign agent and providing information to the enemy that could be of use to it. In its statement, it emphasized: "At a time when the State of Israel is facing ongoing security threats, any contact with enemy elements and the transfer of information can serve the enemy and harm state security, and will therefore be handled severely."