Hundreds of Israelis receive recruitment calls from Iranian intelligence, police say

Israeli police advised citizens to "remain vigilant" as hundreds allegedly received recruitment calls from Iranian intelligence on Saturday. (Credit: dikushin/iStockphoto/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

Hundreds of Israeli citizens have received calls from Iran’s intelligence service in attempts to recruit them, the country’s police force said Saturday.

“Hundreds of citizens” reported that they received phone calls from an unknown number on Saturday morning, Israel Police said in a statement. When they picked up, “a person spoke to them and offered to recruit them to an Iranian organization,” it said.

An alleged recording of one such phone call was posted on the Israeli news site Ynet. In it, a robotic voice tells the listener that “the Iranian intelligence is looking for qualified agents,” offering a “competitive salary and comprehensive security.”

CNN has reached out to the Iranian foreign ministry for comment.

Police said the calls were “intended to cause alarm among the public during wartime,” adding that they “represent attempts by Iranian intelligence elements to recruit Israeli citizens at home and abroad for the purpose of advancing intelligence-gathering and terrorist activities in Israel.”

Last year, Israeli authorities said an unprecedented number of its citizens were arrested for spying for Iran.

Some were allegedly recruited via social media, with Iran reportedly spamming Telegram accounts with messages in the hope that some recruitment offers may be accepted, police said at the time.

Oded Allam, a former top Mossad official, told CNN in December that Iran is more interested in casting a wide net than in recruiting skilled operatives.

“They say to themselves: ‘Okay, if we fail here, we’ll go to the next one.’ And they don’t really care (about) the outcome,” Allam said.

Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the resulting war in Gaza that followed, Israel Police has investigated more than 25 espionage cases linked to Iran, resulting in approximately 46 arrests, Dean Elsdunne, a police spokesperson, told CNN this week.

In relation to the phone calls on Saturday, Israel Police urged the public to “remain vigilant” and report any “unusual incident” to authorities.

Authorities “will continue to act to locate and thwart terrorist and espionage activities in Israel and abroad, and will ensure that all those involved are brought to justice,” it said in Saturday’s statement.