The Israeli General Security Service (Shin Bet) said that it exposed what it called an Iranian plot to recruit Israelis for the purpose of gathering intelligence and even to launch attacks against Israeli targets.

Today, Monday, the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Shin Bet (the internal intelligence service) said that the Iranians used a personal file on Facebook in the name of "Sarah Bobby", on the grounds that she is a young Jewish woman with links and business relations in Israel.

"Thousands have joined the page within a short period of time, most of them are from Israel," he added.

The Shin Bet added that after the initial contact was made on Facebook, the communications would then be transferred to WhatsApp.

The Shin Bet considered that communication through social media is among the well-known methods used by what it described as terrorist groups and Iranian intelligence to recruit Israelis and push them to act.

"In recent months, increased efforts have been made to contact Israelis via the Internet, using false cover in order to gather intelligence and carry out terrorist attacks," he said.

The Israeli intelligence service indicated that it had been monitoring the Iranian site since the beginning.

"The Iranian official contacted a friend in Israel, without realizing that he was talking to the Shin Bet, and asked him to identify the Israelis who might be of interest to Iranian intelligence," he said.

The Shin Bet stated that the Iranian spokesman requested information about public figures in Israel and inquired about his friend's willingness to harm them, while promising to pay large sums.

He explained that the Iranian client is transferring funds in cryptocurrencies under the cover of commercial reasons.

He added that the Iranian tried to urge his Israeli friend to put up anti-Russian and anti-Putin billboards, after the Russian war on Ukraine, with the aim of weakening Israeli-Russian relations.

He continued, as he tried to gather information and harm representatives of Arab commercial companies and diplomats working in Israel.

The Shin Bet believed that these efforts revealed Iranian methods as well as their desire to harm the Israelis and Israel's relations with other countries.

The Shin Bet has previously announced several similar Iranian attempts in the past, and Iran has not officially commented on the Israeli report.