The indictment against him tells a story about a man who met with Iranian agents, traveled between countries, and discussed plans to assassinate senior figures in Israel. “This is a person who greatly helped the security services of the State of Israel,” said his defense attorney
Published on: 19.9.24 12:10
The court allowed the publication of the name of the accused businessman in connection with Iranian agents: Mordechai (Moti) Meman, 72 years old from Ashkelon. Sources familiar with the details say that the man has only recently been living in Ashkelon.
The serious indictment filed today against Maman is for the crimes of contacting a foreign agent and entering an enemy country without a permit. The indictment states that the man, who lived in Turkey for several years with a partner from Belarus, got into a difficult financial situation and then turned to his associates in Turkey, Andrey Farouk Aslan and Junaid Aslan, in an attempt to find business opportunities that would improve his financial situation.
During one of the conversations, Andrey introduced “Eddie”, a rich man from Iran, who could, allegedly, provide the defendant with unique business opportunities. On April 9, 2024, Maman left for an international trip; He took off from Israel to Cyprus, crossed the border to Turkish Cyprus and from there arrived in Samandag district in Turkey. He met there with contacts on behalf of Edi, since Edi himself could not leave Iran due to “legal difficulties”.
During his stay in Turkey, he went to a village near the border crossing with Iran, when his stay at the Hilton Hotel there was financed by the same Eddie. In the conversations he had with Man, Edi begged him to meet with him in Iran and told him that he could trust him.
In the end Maman agreed and he was smuggled to a secret meeting with Edi on Iranian soil. During the meeting, Eddie introduced to him Haja, a senior intelligence officer who works on behalf of the Iranian regime. The meeting took place in a luxurious villa near the Iranian border, where Maman was treated to a royal standard of hospitality.
During the meetings with him, it is required to check ways to carry out espionage and terrorist activities in Israel, such as transferring money or weapons to agents in Israel, photographing different places in Israel, and more. After this meeting Maman was smuggled back to Turkey where he received $1,300 from Andrey as a partial payment from Madi.
After that, Maman returned to Israel and continued to keep in touch with Andrey, then another meeting was arranged for him with Eddie on Iranian soil.
During a wild journey of flights, secret transportation and covert operations, Maman crossed the border from Iran to Turkey again. Again he met with Eddie and Haja at the luxurious villa, the meeting was joined by two Iranian intelligence officers. At the meeting, Maman was asked to carry out certain actions in Israel. In return, he demanded Militon Schuller as a down payment, but the Iranians agreed to pay only 150,000 dollars.
At the meeting there, plans for revenge for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh were discussed, such as: assassinations of senior figures in Israel, including the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuthe Minister of Defense Yoav Galantand the head of the Shin Bet Ronan Bar. When Maman explained that carrying out these assassinations was an impossible task due to the high level of security around the targets, the contacts offered other options, such as assassinating the former prime minister Naftali Bennett using an explosive charge.
Maman came back and demanded a million shekels as an advance, but the Iranians agreed to improve their previous offer and pay him between 300 and 400 thousand dollars as an advance for the assassination of Naftali Bennett. Maman refused.
Moti Maman
The Iranians tried to convince him that he should assassinate one of the senior figures because by doing so he would prevent a war between Iran and Israel following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.
At one point, the Iranian agents suggested to him to eliminate high-ranking figures, such as mayors of cities in northern Israel such as Rabbi Acre or Rabbi Nahariya. They detailed ways to cooperate, and even suggested establishing dedicated elimination squads in Russia and the United States.
However, Meman continued to insist on this and demand an advance of one million dollars in order to take any action. The meeting ended in nothing and Maman stayed to sleep in a hotel in Iran, where Edi allocated an entire floor in the hotel for Maman and Andrey, and arranged for hospitality like the king’s, which included the service of many waiters who honored him with many delicacies and a lot of drink.
The next day, Eddie informed Manman that the Iranians were interested in meeting with him again. This time, too, they repeated their proposal to eliminate the former Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, since he is not secure and his financier insisted that he receive an advance of one million dollars. This demand led to a financial conflict between the parties, which ultimately prevented the realization of the plans. However, the defendant He understood very well that his contacts with the agents were part of a complex system aimed at undermining the security of the state.
Before leaving Iran, he received another 5,000 euros from Adi and Haja for agreeing to meet with the Iranian agents.
On August 29, 2024, upon landing at Ben Gurion Airport, he was arrested by the security forces. The General Security Service and the police investigated the case, and discovered the depth of the connection between the accused and the Iranian security mechanisms.
Attorney Eyal Basraglik. Photo: Ilan Bashor
Attorney Eyal Basraglik, who represents the accused, said: “The indictment has just been received and with it a request for detention until the end of the proceedings. We have not yet been exposed to the investigation material, so at this stage it is difficult to go into the details of the case. It can already be said that this is a person who has greatly assisted the security services of the State of Israel, whose children serve in the security forces, and who in the context of his business made a mistake in judgment. It is not for nothing that the indictment was not filed for other offenses. My client cooperated and continues to cooperate fully with the authorities.”
Want to stay updated?
Download the “Kan Darom – Ashkelon” application