Israeli who tried to spy for Iran given four years in prison

A Tel Aviv court on Sunday sentenced an Israeli convicted of trying to pass classified information to Iran to four years imprisonment.

The man had plead guilty to the charges of passing information to an enemy, meeting with a foreign agent, and fraud.

The man was arrested by police and agents of the Shin Bet security agency on May 8, 2008 after arriving in Israel for a visit. He was questioned on suspicion of having contacts with an Iranian intelligence agent, police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.

The suspect told interrogators he had repeatedly visited the Iranian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, and gave the Iranians names of acquaintances he said served in Israel's defense establishment.

During questioning after his arrest, he said that his visits to the Iranian consulate in Istanbul took place while he was living there in 2006.

Israel is home to tens of thousands of Iranian immigrants, many of whom maintain ties with relatives in their native land despite almost three decades of hostility between the two Middle East states.

A Shin Bet official said last year that many of the emigres first stop in Istanbul to receive permits from the Iranian consulate and come under pressure to spy against Israel.