'Israeli' man jailed for spying-linked tasks for alleged Iranian agent

• Haifa District Court sentenced 28-year-old Dimitri Cohen to 8.5 years in prison for contact with a foreign agent and security-related offenses.
• He was convicted of collecting and transmitting information that could be used by Iran and its proxies during wartime.
• Cohen was arrested in May 2025 in a joint Shin Bet and police operation after being recruited online by an individual posing as a private investigator.

A Haifa District Court on Monday sentenced 28-year-old Haifa resident Dimitri Cohen to eight and a half years in prison after convicting him of contact with a foreign agent and seven additional offenses related to attempts to provide information that could be used by Iran and its proxies during wartime.

Cohen was arrested in May last year in a joint operation by 'Israel’s' Shin Bet security agency and the 'Israel' Police’s Coastal District Central Unit. He was found to have carried out a series of tasks for a foreign agent who posed as a private investigator.

According to an indictment filed by the Haifa District Attorney’s Office, Cohen was searching for work online in the spring of 2025 when he was approached by a man identifying himself as “David,” who offered payment of $500 per task in cryptocurrency. “David” claimed to run a private investigation firm called “Jupiter,” specializing in infidelity cases, and instructed Cohen to carry out surveillance tasks beginning in Tirat Carmel.

Cohen was asked to obtain an “operational” phone and SIM card to communicate with the alleged agent, who reportedly spoke Russian with a heavy Caucasian accent and used phone numbers with Russian and Portuguese area codes.

He was initially instructed to photograph private homes, the Baha’i Gardens, and Haifa Bay, before being tasked with documenting major roads and infrastructure across 'Israel', including Highway 4, the route between Beersheba and Mitzpe Ramon, and the road from Kibbutz Samar to Eilat. He also photographed the Port of Eilat, ships in the bay, the Hadera power plant, road signs, power lines, and other infrastructure.

The court noted that Cohen at times edited his footage to remove sensitive military sites after realizing their significance, but ruled that the material he did provide could have aided hostile intelligence efforts.

Judges Erez Porat, Nitzan Silman, and Rivka Eisenberg said Cohen “turned a blind eye” to multiple warning signs, including the use of foreign numbers, unusual payment methods, and repeated warnings from acquaintances, concluding he suspected from early on that “David” may have been acting on behalf of Iran but continued the activity nonetheless.

In their sentencing decision, the judges said the offenses were committed during an ongoing war involving Iran and its proxies and stressed the need for deterrence amid growing cases of recruitment attempts targeting 'Israeli' citizens via social media and Telegram.

They also noted mitigating factors, including Cohen’s lack of prior criminal record, his remorse, his financial motives, and his decision to refuse a later assignment near the Port of Eilat after recognizing its seriousness.

Cohen was sentenced retroactively to his arrest date of May 27, 2025, and will also serve three years of probation.

“I regret everything I did. I was wrong, and this is the biggest mistake I made in my life,” Cohen told Walla ahead of the first hearing.