Israeli reservist charged with passing Iron Dome data to Iran

An indictment was filed on Friday morning, March 20, at the Jerusalem District Court against a reservist from Jerusalem who served in Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system, on suspicion of transferring sensitive information to Iranian operatives in exchange for payment.

According to the indictment, cited by The Jerusalem Post, the defendant, identified as Raz Cohen, faces serious security-related charges, including allegedly providing information connected to the operation of the Iron Dome system.

Cohen was arrested at the beginning of the war and interrogated by the Lahav 433 major crimes unit as part of a joint investigation with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). His detention was extended multiple times before the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office formally filed the indictment on Friday.

Prosecutors allege that the reservist maintained contact with Iranian operatives and passed on sensitive details related to Israel’s air defence activities. However, authorities have not disclosed the full scope of the information allegedly transferred or the exact payments he is suspected of receiving.

The case follows a similar incident earlier this year. In January 2025, an indictment was filed at the Haifa District Court against 22-year-old reservist Yuri Ilyaspov, who also served in an Iron Dome unit, and his associate Georgy Andreev, 21, over alleged links to an Iranian operative and actions carried out inside Israel. The two childhood friends from Kiryat Yam who lived only a few hundred meters apart were accused of multiple offences.

Ilyaspov faced charges including aiding the enemy during wartime, transmitting information to the enemy, aggravated espionage, and maintaining contact with a foreign agent, as well as property-related crimes such as defacement, destruction of evidence, forgery, and use of forged documents.

Andreev was charged with contact with a foreign agent, along with destruction of evidence, theft, and property defacement.

By Tamilla Hasanova