Bat Yam Mayor Tzvika Brot warned the city's residents not to cooperate with Iranian handlers who are trying to recruit them as agents in a video posted to his official Facebook page on Tuesday.
The Bat Yam municipality has been in contact with security agencies, including the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), regarding the "possibility that our residents might fall into the net of Iranian intelligence," Brot said.
The residents may "cooperate" with Iranian handlers, "following all the messages they are sending to our phones," Brot commented.
"We know that there are also residents of Bat Yam who, these very days, are maintaining such contacts," he affirmed.
These residents are "endangering not only Israel’s security but also their personal future" by being in contact with Iranian handlers.
Doing so is a "very serious offense," and anyone who the Shin Bet arrests would "cause themselves irreversible harm," Brot continued.
"We have recently been hearing in the media about normative people, even reserve soldiers, outstanding students, and retirees, who thought they would make easy money, and perhaps carry out actions that they thought would cause no harm at all. Later, they were also convinced to do other actions, such as moving a package from place to place," he added.
"We are still in a sensitive period from a security perspective, and we are doing everything to be prepared for what lies ahead - but we need your assistance to ensure that our enemies do not receive even unintentional assistance from home," he said.
"If you or relatives or friends responded to one of these approaches, held conversations with the Iranians, perhaps even already carried out various tasks, do not wait until they knock on your door. It is probably still not too late to reach out to us, and we can try together with the security agencies to turn the wheel back," Brot said, addressing the residents.
"The Shin Bet met with the local government and informed them that there is a general problem. The Iranians are no longer hiding, but are contacting everyone by phone. One per thousand percent is enough - and they manage to recruit," Brot told N12 News.
Israeli authorities arrest Tel Aviv resident suspected of spying for Iran
Israel Police and Shin Bet arrested a Tel Aviv resident on suspicion of contacting an Iranian handler and spying on behalf of Tehran, a joint statement confirmed on November 10.
The suspect, 27, contacted Iranian officials on his own initiative via a social media platform and carried out several missions in exchange for money, the investigation revealed.
As part of these missions, he photographed several sites, including the location of a missile impact site in Ramat Gan, the Tel Aviv Museum, and other locations, on the instructions of Iranian handlers.
A joint Israel Police and Shin Bet operation led to the October 2025 arrest of a 21-year-old resident of Beersheba for actions related to working with Iranian agents, the agencies announced on November 20.