Iran steps up assassination efforts against ‘Israeli’ officials: Hebrew media

‘Israel’s’ security establishment has assessed that Iran is sharply intensifying attempts to target both current and former senior ‘Israeli’ officials, seeking a rapid “strategic psychological achievement” against Tel Aviv.

According to a report by Hebrew Channel 12, the threat has prompted heightened protective measures around multiple high-ranking figures in recent days.

While Tehran’s interest in striking ‘Israeli’ leaders is longstanding, officials say the scale and frequency of plotted attacks have risen noticeably in recent weeks.

The assessment was delivered to threatened individuals, including a group of top incumbent ministers, with security agencies identifying an urgent push by Iran to score a high-profile success.

Channel 12 reported that ‘Israel’s’ security establishment views the goal as achieving a psychological victory rather than purely operational gains.

In response, the Shin Bet has strengthened security arrangements for several senior officials and instructed them to vary their routines and take extra precautions.

Former senior officials are also considered potential targets.

The heightened alert helps explain unusual steps taken around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent travel: on advice from security officials, his departure for a meeting with US President Donald Trump was conducted under the radar, with the Wing of Zion aircraft leaving from Nevatim Air Force Base in the south rather than the usual Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, and without public disclosure of the timing.

Netanyahu also held the weekly cabinet meeting in a secure underground facility instead of the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

The latest warnings follow a Mossad announcement last week that it had, together with the Shin Bet and foreign intelligence partners, foiled an Iranian intelligence network aiming to infiltrate ‘Israel’ and attack senior officials.

The plot involved recruitment through criminal organizations of operatives capable of entering the country to gather intelligence and carry out attacks.

Mossad stated that Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have been running a global campaign against ‘Israeli’, with efforts inside ‘Israel’ intensifying in recent months.

“Dozens of Iranian-linked terror networks have been disrupted in recent years,” the Mossad said in its statement, adding that authorities have also uncovered attempts to recruit ‘Israeli’ citizens for such missions.

One operative, identified under the alias “Philip,” was recruited by groups operating under Iranian direction and was later expelled from France; several Iranian handlers were named, with one killed during earlier ‘Israeli’ operations.