The Central District Court in Lod today (Wednesday) sentenced Alexander Granovsky of Petah Tikva to 13.5 years in prison after he was convicted of offenses against state security for maintaining prolonged contact with an Iranian agent and carrying out a series of assignments on his behalf. Granovsky confessed and was convicted of contact with a foreign agent, providing information to the enemy, defacing property and arson. Under an agreement between the parties, he will serve 13.5 years in prison, in addition to a suspended sentence.
1+According to the indictment, Granovsky communicated with the Iranian agent through Telegram and carried out various assignments on his behalf. Among other things, he filmed power station facilities and the neighborhood where Knesset member Benny Gantz lives, sending the footage to the agent. He was also accused of setting fire to nine vehicles, spray-painting graffiti, receiving instructions to destroy IDF uniforms and serving as an intermediary in an attempt to recruit people with criminal records to carry out violent acts.
According to prosecutors, Granovsky followed instructions designed to conceal his identity and prevent his activities from being discovered. He was aware that the person with whom he was communicating was acting on behalf of an entity hostile to Israel, but continued cooperating with him, even proposing additional assignments himself and asking to be given more significant missions. In return for his activities, Granovsky received thousands of dollars through a digital wallet.
1+Prosecutors noted that the 13.5-year sentence is the harshest imposed to date in the series of cases involving Israelis who established contact with Iranian agents through social media and carried out assignments on their behalf.