Israel charges soldier with carrying out tasks for Iranian intelligence

Israeli authorities said on Thursday they had charged a 22-year-old Israeli soldier with carrying out espionage tasks on behalf of Iranian intelligence, following his arrest last month.



In a joint statement, the Shin Bet internal security agency and the police said that Rafael Reuveni, a resident of the southern city of Beersheba, "maintained contact with Iranian intelligence agents and knowingly operated under their direction."



Reuveni is charged with contacting a foreign agent and providing information to Iran, according to the statement.



According to another statement released by the State Attorney's Office, Reuveni carried out tasks such as filming a park, documenting a bus stop, and recording activity inside a shopping mall.



In one instance, he was sent to the city of Rishon LeZion, south of Tel Aviv, to check whether a handgun hidden at a location was real or a toy. After refusing to hand the gun to another person, he was told to move it to a different spot in exchange for 2,000 shekels (about 616 U.S. dollars)